Future Environmental Performance of Lithium from Brines Shaped by Energy and Reagent Decarbonization and Technology Optimization
- 1Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden2333 CC, The Netherlands.
- 2Chair of Ecological Systems Design, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich8093, Switzerland.
- 3BRGM , OrléansF-45060, France.
Abstract
The rapid expansion of battery-grade lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ) production from brines raises increasing concerns about future environmental impacts, which must be assessed in alignment with project commissioning timelines. Here, we assess the life cycle climate change and water scarcity impacts for 24 operating and announced brine-based Li 2 CO 3 projects, accounting for future technology optimization and economy-wide decarbonization across the energy and chemical reagent sectors. These developments could reduce climate change impacts of individual projects by 26-89% by 2035. Substantial project-level mitigation does not necessarily translate into lower impact intensity in the Li 2 CO 3 supply mix of these projects, which depends on the success of planned production capacity. Technology optimization and economy-wide decarbonization can only offset the higher impacts from announced projects, while achieving meaningful cuts requires a transition to electrified heating. This shift, combined with more resource-intensive direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies, may exacerbate water scarcity impacts beyond production sites. Building a sustainable lithium supply chain demands early mitigation to counterbalance higher impacts of upcoming projects, heat decarbonization as an immediate rather than long-term goal, accelerated decarbonization of soda ash and lime industries, and a supply chain-wide approach to water management
Related
- Integrating green building technology and renewable energy for a carbon-neutral built environment: Exploring the mechanisms of energy efficiency, AI technology, and environmental policy stringency
- Energy factors affecting environmental sustainability in Poland: Implications for technology revolution 6.0
- An Artificial Intelligence Integrated Geospatial Decision-Support Framework for Scenario-Based Climate-Adaptive Land-Use Optimization and Environmental Risk Reduction
- AI-driven environmental performance index using deep autoencoders for monitoring sustainable development goals
- Hybrid LCA of French research activities reveals limited trade‑offs for decarbonization strategies across multiple impacts
BibTeX
@article{istrate2026future,
title = {{Future Environmental Performance of Lithium from Brines Shaped by Energy and Reagent Decarbonization and Technology Optimization}},
author = {Robert Istrate and Vanessa Schenker and Antoine Beylot and Victoire Collignon and Stephan Pfister and Bernhard Steubing},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6c09037},
url = {https://brgm.hal.science/hal-05761209v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Future Environmental Performance of Lithium from Brines Shaped by Energy and Reagent Decarbonization and Technology Optimization
AU - Robert Istrate
AU - Vanessa Schenker
AU - Antoine Beylot
AU - Victoire Collignon
AU - Stephan Pfister
AU - Bernhard Steubing
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.6c09037
UR - https://brgm.hal.science/hal-05761209v1
AB - The rapid expansion of battery-grade lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ) production from brines raises increasing concerns about future environmental impacts, which must be assessed in alignment with project commissioning timelines. Here, we assess the life cycle climate change and water scarcity impacts for 24 operating and announced brine-based Li 2 CO 3 projects, accounting for future technology optimization and economy-wide decarbonization across the energy and chemical reagent sectors. These developments could reduce climate change impacts of individual projects by 26-89% by 2035. Substantial project-level mitigation does not necessarily translate into lower impact intensity in the Li 2 CO 3 supply mix of these projects, which depends on the success of planned production capacity. Technology optimization and economy-wide decarbonization can only offset the higher impacts from announced projects, while achieving meaningful cuts requires a transition to electrified heating. This shift, combined with more resource-intensive direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies, may exacerbate water scarcity impacts beyond production sites. Building a sustainable lithium supply chain demands early mitigation to counterbalance higher impacts of upcoming projects, heat decarbonization as an immediate rather than long-term goal, accelerated decarbonization of soda ash and lime industries, and a supply chain-wide approach to water management
SN - 0013-936X
SN - 1520-5851
ER -