Weather of Arabia - In a world seeking to shift towards sustainability and search for alternatives to fossil fuels, Elon Musk, head of Tesla, raises eyebrows again and this time, not by designing smart electric cars or ambitious space projects, but rather through a statement describing a mineral as “oil.” This statement not only raised the eyebrows of scientists and entrepreneurs, but also ignited a debate about whether there is a mineral that could replace fossil oil as a major source of energy in the future.
What is this new metal that has impressed Elon Musk? What are the reasons that make him describe it as “the new oil”?
Lithium-ion batteries are considered the beating heart of the electric car industry, as they play a vital role in the industry’s shift towards reliance on electric energy, and Elon Musk describes these batteries as “the new oil,” according to a report published by “Yahoo Finance.” These statements come in the context of the great efforts made by his company to build a lithium extraction refinery on the coast of Texas, a facility aimed at strengthening Tesla's position as the largest company for refining lithium and producing its batteries in North America.
Lithium, or element with atomic number 3, is a versatile and versatile element that finds use in a wide range of applications, from aircraft manufacturing and some types of batteries, to the field of mental health. In the medical context, lithium carbonate is a common treatment for anxiety disorders. Bipolar, as it plays an important role in achieving mood stability and treating the psychological fluctuations characteristic of this disease.
The Brazilian naturalist and statesman, José Bonifacio de Andralda e Silva, discovered the mineral petalite, or lithium -aluminum silicate, on the Swedish island of Utes in the 1870s, according to information provided by the Royal Society of Chemistry, as the mineral appears in color ranging from white to grey . But when exposed to heat, it burns bright crimson.
In 1817 , Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedsson discovered that the mineral called petalite contained an element unknown at that time, and although he was unable to completely isolate the element, he succeeded in isolating one of its compounds.
The name lithium comes from the Greek word "lithos" which means "stone" and it took time until 1855 to completely isolate lithium, when an electric current was passed through lithium chloride by chemists Augustus Matthiessen from Britain and Robert Bunsen from Germany, in order to extract the pure element.
The company has allocated $365 million to develop the plant, and the planned production date of 2025 has now been revised to the second half of 2024, enabling it to produce sufficient quantities of lithium used in batteries to meet the needs of one million electric cars annually.
The lithium market for batteries is undoubtedly huge and in addition to its use in the electric vehicle industry, portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops must also be taken into account, as they rely heavily on lithium-ion batteries.
Elon Musk has taken notice, calling a large-scale lithium mining operation in Texas a “money making machine,” demonstrating his commitment to efficiently meeting the growing demand for batteries.
Elon Musk's description of lithium as the "new oil" highlights the growing importance of resources and technology in achieving sustainable development. If we can develop and use lithium effectively and sustainably, we may find ourselves on the cusp of a future that relies less on fossil fuels and more on renewable and sustainable sources. For energy.
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