Reacción a "Two low-pollution alternatives proposed to extract lithium from diluted brines like seawater"

I see this as good news. Currently, increasing amounts of lithium are being extracted either from rocks (mainly spodumene from Australia) or from brines in the lithium triangle (Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia). In the Atacama Desert in Chile or in Uyuni in Bolivia, lithium extraction results in the destruction of unique habitats in the world, with incalculable ecological value. The reserves in the brines are large, but the damage is irreversible. Therefore, extracting lithium from brines — waters with a high salt concentration, like those of the Dead Sea, as proposed in an article, or even from desalination brines — is an interesting alternative. Until now, this hasn’t been done due to the high cost, especially the energy cost.

If, as the articles suggest, the energy cost can be substantially reduced, the potential to expand reserves at a low cost is very promising, given the enormous lithium demand that is expected, especially for electrifying transportation. This would also allow for a reduction in supply risks, as it could be extracted from many more places. I also think it is interesting how they have approached the problem through biomimicry: learning from nature to replicate it in industrial processes. After all, nature has optimized its processes over billions of years. We have a lot to learn from it!