Table 1 Estimated Li and Zn requirements for a representative set of energy storage scenarios
From: Electrical energy storage with engineered biological systems
Scenario | Storage Requirement (Petajoules) | Amount of Li (theoretical minimum) (kilotonnes) | Amount of Li (practical) (kilotonnes) | Fraction of World Reserve | Amount of Zn (e-) (kilotonnes) | Fraction of World Reserve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballpark low estimate for US or EU energy storage requirements, 80% renewables. | 1 | 19 | 47 | 0.003 | 565 | 0.002 |
Low end estimate for 100% renewables in US, no EVs (Frew et al.) | 6 | 117 | 283 | 0.018 | 3,390 | 0.015 |
Ballpark estimate for US or EU energy storage requirements, 100% renewables. | 10 | 195 | 472 | 0.030 | 5,650 | 0.025 |
Upper end estimate for 80% renewables in US (12 hours of power) (Shaner et al.) | 21 | 409 | 992 | 0.064 | 11,900 | 0.052 |
Upper end estimate for 100% renewables in US (3 weeks of power) (Shaner et al.) | 900 | 17,500 | 42,500 | 2.72 | 509,000 | 2.21 |
Current world (2.5 TW), 12 hours of current supply | 108 | 2,100 | 5,100 | 0.323 | 61,000 | 0.266 |
Current world (2.5 TW), 3 weeks of current supply | 4,540 | 88,300 | 214,200 | 13.7 | 2,560,000 | 11.2 |
Future World, US energy consumption is standard, 11 billion people, 1 hour supply (14.3 TW) | 51 | 1,000 | 2,430 | 0.156 | 29,100 | 0.127 |
Future World, US energy consumption is standard, 11 billion people, 12 hours supply (14.3 TW) | 618 | 12,000 | 29,200 | 1.87 | 349,000 | 1.52 |
Future World, US energy consumption is standard, 11 billion people, 3 weeks supply | 25,900 | 505,000 | 1,230,000 | 78.5 | 14,670,000 | 63.8 |