Aragon Joint University Research Institute for Energy and Resource Efficiency (ENERGAIA)
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Professor of Machines and Heat Engines at the University of Zaragoza, and Head of the Industrial Ecology group at the Energaia Institute
Deputy Director of the Joint University Research Institute for Energy and Resource Efficiency of Aragon (ENERGAIA) at the University of Zaragoza
At this time, it is unknown what caused the massive power outage that left millions of people without electricity on the Iberian Peninsula on Monday. The influence of renewable energy sources is also unknown.
Lithium, a material widely used for battery production, is typically extracted from rocks and concentrated brines, but these reserves are expected to run out by 2080. The alternative is to evaporate more diluted brines (such as seawater), but the traditional process is inefficient, polluting, and consumes large amounts of water. Two new studies published in Science propose two more viable and environmentally friendly alternative methods: the first uses a membrane that filters lithium through a transpiration system similar to that of plants, requiring only solar energy. The second combines electrodes to mimic a battery and move lithium from the brine (cathode) to fresh water (anode).