Live data from Hacker News

Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

tech.supercarblondie.com

91–100 of 208 posts

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#91
post #51
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the standard non-renewable resource used for the recovery process? What materials are used up as catalysts to convert it back?

Sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium carbonate. Not catalysts but reagents. Most currently come from fossil fuel feedstock but that isn't essential.

Why would any of those compounds come from fossil fuels? Sulfur is mined, hydrogen peroxide is water with some oxygen taken off, and sodium carbonate is made from salt and limestone

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#92
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are other forces besides market prices... regulatory compliance comes to mind..

Or the fact that China is the primary source of lithium and if Chinese car brands start exporting their cars worldwide, there is no reason for them give the raw resources to western car manufacturers, forcing them to buy the whole battery pack from China.

Fact?

Australia will sell the raw resource ( hard-rock spodumene ) to anyone that wants a X-year contract - it's on them to process the concentrate (although we are currently building out spodumene processing).

  Australia has one of the biggest lithium reserves, and is the biggest producer of lithium by weight, with most of its production coming from mines in Western Australia.
~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_mining_in_Australia

There's also Chile:

  Lithium mining in Chile is the second largest in the world in terms of extraction after it was surpassed by Australia in 2012. Chile, like Argentina and Bolivia, is located within the Lithium Triangle, an area of South America that houses the largest known reserves of lithium on the planet. 
~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_mining_in_Chile

It might pay to brush up on mineral resources, processing, and global trade patterns before over confidently launching into faux-facts.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live in Tokyo or Osaka you really shouldn’t own a car

And one of the points that's a little more obvious living here: Japan is a remarkably car centric culture. Not quite to the extent of America, but in much of the country you really do need a car. If anything the main exceptions to that are exactly the places tourists are most likely to go.

I disagree, I lived a year in a small town near Osaka far from any tourist attractions and never did I wish I had a car. Public transport was ubiquitous and walking infrastructure excellent. Lots of people on bikes. Roads were tiny so cars on them are tiny and driving slowly, making it feel safe to share the roads with them.

Maybe the most clear indication that Japan isn't a car centric culture was the complete lack of FREE parking space.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#94
post #62

Some geopolitical context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Senkaku_boat_collision_in... https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/comme... Japan was one of the first countries to be hit with rare-earth export-restrictions by China - going back to 2010. It seems that a lot of policy came out from this unpleasant shock, incl. the decision by Toyota to focus on developing FCEVs which would be less depend…

> last laugh

Can I ask your reasoning?

Currently hydrogen is just oil with extra steps. Efficient electrolysis either needs ultra-rare materials like iridium and platinum, or exotic ceramics for continuous high-temperature electrolysis.

I personally can't see how this arrangement can supplant oil and batteries.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#95

The article is very, very light with details. The university or research center is not named. No scientist is named. No link. Nothing that tells "look, we're telling you real, solid, serious stuff." Here is another article with that details : https://www.techspot.com/news/112051-japan-finds-way-recover...

Being able to quickly skim articles is definitely a skill that has paid in spades since the advent of AI slop.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#96
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium carbonate. Not catalysts but reagents. Most currently come from fossil fuel feedstock but that isn't essential.

Why would any of those compounds come from fossil fuels? Sulfur is mined, hydrogen peroxide is water with some oxygen taken off, and sodium carbonate is made from salt and limestone

Because they can, because when refining petroleum products you get a lot of crap that's not carbohydrates

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#98

according to https://x.com/Mith_/status/2041911606213537971 > The industry standard for the recovery of lithium (remember there is a difference between recovery and extraction) is 90%, with some platforms now achieving 95%+ like those that use carbonation.

https://xcancel.com/Mith_/status/2041911606213537971

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#99
Incidentally, companies developing technologies for reusing EV batteries in grid storage applications (where even <80% capacity EV batteries are just fine for many years), have trouble getting enough EV batteries, because they last much longer than we were made to believe.
Post reply on HN