To meet the surging global demand for batteries that power electric vehicles and store renewable energy, we’re going to need a whole lot of lithium: specifically, around 3 to 4 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (a commonly used form of the metal) by 2030, according to an April report from McKinsey & Company. That’s a huge jump from last year’s figure of merely 500,000 metric tons, largely thanks to rising lithium-ion battery demand.
