Climate-driven water stress could undercut most proposed U.S. lithium mines

The U.S. may not have enough water to support its lithium ambitions, a new Northwestern University study has found. An essential ingredient for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and other clean energy technologies, lithium is largely mined in Australia and Chile and then processed and refined in China. In recent years, however, the U.S. has pushed to develop its own lithium industry to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains.