June 3, 2020  

Life Cycle of Lithium (Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium)

Life Cycle of Lithium

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an environmental management tool that objectively, methodically, systematically and scientifically analyzes the environmental impact generated by a process or product during its entire life cycle.

This is a tool for comparison and not for absolute evaluation. It helps decision-makers to review the main environmental impacts. Since LCA is a data-intensive method, the availability of adequate and reliable information is a fundamental issue and, therefore, various databases have been developed internationally, such as GaBi, ecoinvent, IBO and others.

Following the basic principles of life cycle assessment, calculations are based on ISO 14040, 14044 or 14067 and the PAS2050 standard related to the specific product. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the recommendations for calculating emissions according to their global warming potential also apply.

Fig. 1: steps of an LCA. From the International Organization for Standardization (2006) Environmental Management – LCA – principles and framework. ISO 14040. Geneva: ISO.

LCA framework

The steps necessary for the analysis are:

● Gate to gate: contemplates only the activities or the production process of the company to which it applies.

● Cradle to gate: considers from the extraction and conditioning of raw materials to the production process of the company.

● Gate to grave: reviews the company’s production process until the management phase of the waste that the product generates.

● Cradle to grave: analyzes from the conditioning of raw materials to the final treatment of waste through recycling or other alternatives.

● Cradle to cradle: studies the complete life cycle of the product. It goes from the conditioning of raw materials until the product, after being out of use, is reintroduced in the same production process or in another.

LCA for Lithium Carbonate

Values ​​for Lithium Carbonate differ according to databases:
From Cradle to Gate datasets

Data base Ton CO2/ton Li2CO3
Ecoinvent 3.1 2
GREET 2016 3.3

LCA for Lithium Hydroxide:

LiOH • H2O is produced in different ways, by different companies, from different natural resources, which means that there is not a single intensity of production of LiOH • H2O CO2, but a range for a variety of LiOH • H2O products offered by companies that carry out operations. Minviro drew up an LCA for lithium hydroxide from dissimilar processes.

RESULTS

LiOH • H2O produced from brine has the lowest CO2 levels on the market today.

On the other hand, the levels of CO2 from the processing of spodumene concentrate in China is the highest in the world.

LITHIUM LIFE CYCLE

Committed to caring for the environment, at SQM we work on production processes under strict national and international standards. For this reason, one of the most important actions of the operation is to measure the impact of the company’s lithium production, both on the environment and on communities and areas of operation. It is the Life Cycle Analysis, an environmental management tool that objectively, methodically, systematically and scientifically analyzes the environmental impact generated by a process or product during its entire life cycle.

An important item that is measured is the carbon footprint of the operation and its products. In the case of lithium, the process is measured under strict, demanding and prestigious international standards, under the norms ISO standards 14040 and 14044. Currently, the company was able to measure under three measurement variables, based on energy use, water consumption, and CO2 from operations; It is a study carried out by Afry, the results of which are used to develop different processes in SQM’s own operations and to communicate them, as the case may be, to different stakeholders. The LCA ISO 14040 and 14044 standards are applied for the calculations of these studies.

The study provides a document that allows defining the levels of CO2, energy and water consumption in order to keep the emissions of the operation and the life cycle of the product up to date and controlled. This method allows calculating the contribution of emissions for the manufacture of lithium ion batteries and cathode materials. There is also a strength that is reputational, since it is a laboratory in the United States, which depends on the Department of Energy of that country, which provides support and credibility to the information that emanates from its studies.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION

SQM’s lithium production process has the lowest energy consumption compared to spodumene-based lithium production. This statement is based on the fact that during 2018 approximately half of the world’s lithium production came from spodumene and the other half from brine, as is the case of SQM Lithium, and according to a life cycle analysis carried out by SQM and the consulting firm Afry, SQM has low energy consumption.

According to the SQM Lithium Life Cycle Analysis provided by AFRY, the water footprint in brine production is significantly lower than in Australian refined hard rock (spodumene) production in China. For example, SQM requires approximately 22,5 liters of water per kilogram of lithium carbonate for the entire process if the water consumption of the supplied products (door to door) is not included. In the LCA, the water consumption was calculated by SQM (cradle to customer) according to ISO 14040 and 14044.

During 2018, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide produced from brine and spodumene were consumed almost in equal parts and, according to our estimates, we can say that only 1/3 of the total carbon footprint was generated by the production based on brine such as SQM Lithium. That means SQM’s lithium has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.

* Afry SQM study (2018 world data). The comparison was made with Australian spodumeno, refined in China.

* LCA: Based on information from SQM.

Sources:

https://www.sqmlithium.com

https://www.gabisoftware.com/fileadmin/Documents/GaBi_Modelling_Principles_2018.pdf

Takano A, Winter S, Hughes M, Linkosalmi L, Comparison of life cycle assessment databases: A case study on building assessment, Building and Environment (2014), doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2014.04.025.

The Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Lithium-Ion Batteries – A Study with Focus on Current Technology and Batteries for Light-duty Vehicles. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute 2017

Grant A, Deak D, Pell R. The CO2 Impact of the 2020s Battery Quality Lithium Hydroxide Supply Chain. Minviro, January 2020.

June 3, 2020  

Environmental inspection in the Salar de Atacama

Environmental inspection in the Salar de Atacama

Environmental legislation in Chile is strict and establishes that the operation of a productive project, particularly those associated with mining, must be submitted to a robust Environmental Impact Assessment System, which must account for all possible impacts of an operation on the ecology and on the human population.

This process is reviewed by all relevant government agencies and is open, prior to approval or rejection, to comments from all interested parties. If finally it is considered that all the rules to function are fulfilled, rigid monitoring, mitigation and compensation systems are established, if required.

All approved projects are also continuously supervised, and the audit, if it shows deficiencies, may involve the stopping or shutting down of operations.

All information on project evaluations and monitoring is available online, on public platforms of the relevant government agencies.

SQM is dedicated to complying with the Chilean legislation and, due to its environmental commitment, applies international standard procedures.

June 3, 2020  

Impact of brine extraction

Impact of brine extraction

SQM has a robust monitoring system and an early warning plan that allows it to see, online, the situation of the brines with which it works, through an independent core in the eastern zone.

During the 25 years that SQM has operated in the Salar, the level of brine where the extraction is carried out has decreased between 0.5 and five meters; however, freshwater levels in ecosystems have only shown a variation of +/- 10 cm.

May 29, 2020  

Control of carbon footprint

Control of carbon footprint

Given that 96% of energy use in SQM is solar, the carbon footprint of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate, based on brine, is very small.

SQM’s lithium hydroxide production process produces less than 9 kg of CO2 eq/kg with 56% of the emissions from the external raw materials used in the production process. In comparison, the carbon footprint of cobalt is similar and that of gold is ~ 2000X the lithium hydroxide carbon footprint of SQM.

Since 2015, SQM has reduced its emissions by more than 20%.

May 29, 2020  

Protection of flamingos

Protection of flamingos

SQM operates in a region, that of Antofagasta, where the Los Flamencos National Reserve was created in 1990, divided into different sectors located within the municipality of San Pedro de Atacama.

There are three types of wild flamingos in the area: the Andean, which is classified as “vulnerable”, the Chilean and the James.

Due to their natural characteristics, flamingos are migratory birds that move, depending on their needs, between Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Peru.

The information collected by SQM and the state National Forest Corporation (CONAF) shows that the population of flamingos has not decreased in the sectors where SQM operates.

Monitoring program and CONAF

Since 1995, the SQM company has participated in an environmental monitoring program as part of a collaborative agreement with the National Forest Corporation (CONAF). This program, which is carried out in the months of January, April, June and October of each year, aims to detect timely changes in the surface and depth of lakes, bird populations, the supply of food for flamingos, local physical and chemical conditions and human activities, among other variables.

As a result of this monitoring program, the company has collected 20 years of data on flamingo populations in the Salar de Atacama and has contributed to the activities carried out by CONAF, including an annual flamingo census in approximately 52 high Andean wetlands in the north of Chile and the Antofagasta Region, for more than 20 years.

The SQM company has been voluntarily monitoring the reproductive cycle of flamingos since 2007, observing the three flamingo species in the area: Andean, Chilean and James.

The charts show the censuses for January and April 2019.

It is important to note that during the summer of 2020 the census was carried out, but the rains began and monitoring could not be completed until February. This event, considering its great magnitude, clearly affected the presence of the birds. On the other hand, in April it can be seen that there was an increase, the abundance being relatively similar to the years 2017 and 2018.

May 29, 2020  

State control of extraction

State control of extraction

The permit of the environmental authority allows the extraction of 1,600 l/s of brine and there is a strict control so that this limit is not exceeded. According to the evaluation of the authority, the activity, under these conditions, should not generate any significant impact.

May 29, 2020  

Minimal environmental impacto

Minimal environmental impacto

The lithium extraction process in the Salar de Atacama means that the impurities, which are returned to the Salar, are the same elements that were already in the basin.

Meanwhile, in Salar del Carmen, in Antofagasta, the process residues are magnesium and carbonate salts, which are stored at the same plant.

Due to the nature of the Salar, the salt crust and the great distance (25-30 km) from any population, mining activities do not produce dust or other impacts, such as noise.

The transport of the product to the plants or to the port in Antofagasta is carried out by way of a special road of more than 145 km (built by SQM), which connects to the main Chilean highway, so it does not pass through the cities of the Salar basin.

All wastes are transported to authorized sites outside the Salar.

There are no chemical or other products involved in the extraction, concentration or purification of lithium in the Salar.

SQM designed a concentration process using solar energy to concentrate the brine and precipitate the salts it contains, thus generating a concentrated LiCl brine without the need to add external materials.

The salts precipitated in the process are mainly used for the production of potash; others such as NaCl and MgCl2, although they are commercialized in low quantities, are stored in the Salar.
Therefore, there is no significant pollution in the Salar de Atacama due to the process.

In Antofagasta, the concentrated brine is processed; the final purification and the reactions with other raw materials are carried out to produce Li2CO3 and LiOH. The wastes from this process are salts and brines that mainly contain carbonate, calcium, magnesium and small amounts of lithium that are stored in the plant after evaporation of the brine.

May 29, 2020  

Monitoring program and CONAF

Monitoring program and CONAF

Robust monitoring system

Since 1995, the SQM company has participated in an environmental monitoring program as part of a collaborative agreement with the National Forest Corporation (CONAF). This program, which is carried out in the months of January, April, June and October of each year, aims to detect timely changes in the surface and depth of lakes, bird populations, the supply of food for flamingos, local physical and chemical conditions and human activities, among other variables.

As a result of this monitoring program, the company has collected 20 years of data on flamingo populations in the Salar de Atacama and has contributed to the activities carried out by CONAF, including an annual flamingo census in approximately 52 high Andean wetlands in the north of Chile and the Antofagasta Region, for more than 20 years.

The SQM company has been voluntarily monitoring the reproductive cycle of flamingos since 2007, observing the three flamingo species in the area: Andean, Chilean and James.

The charts show the censuses for January and April 2019.

It is important to note that during the summer of 2020 the census was carried out, but the rains began and monitoring could not be completed until February. This event, considering its great magnitude, clearly affected the presence of the birds. On the other hand, in April it can be seen that there was an increase, the abundance being relatively similar to the years 2017 and 2018.

July 11, 2015  

Brine is not fresh water

Brine is not fresh water

In the Salar de Atacama, brines naturally formed which, for the extraction of lithium, are naturally favored by the high geothermal gradient of the sector. They are pools that are saturated with sodium chloride and high concentrations of potassium, magnesium, boron, sulfates and lithium. Although water is also found in these basins, it is not suitable for human or animal consumption.

Why? Imagine a glass of fresh water, one of sea water and one of brine. The former has a maximum of 1,500 mg/l of total dissolved solids (TDS) and is, therefore, drinkable. If you have up to 5,000 mg/l TDS, it cannot be drunk, but it is suitable for irrigation. Seawater has 35,000 mg/l TDS. It could, after several treatments, be desalinated and transformed into a form suitable for human consumption.

Brine, on the other hand, is much more complex: it has a TDS concentration of more than 300,000 mg/l, 200 times more than drinking water and 70 times more than the worst-quality water for irrigation, in addition to other minerals. That is why it can be said that the extraction of elements from the brines of the Salar de Atacama does not directly affect the freshwater resources of the area.