The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats
- Autores
- Díaz Paz, Walter Fernando; Seghezzo, Lucas; Salas Barboza, Ariela Griselda; Escosteguy, Melisa; Arias-Alvarado, Paula Valentina; Kruse, Eduardo Emilio; Hufty, Marc; Iribarnegaray, Martín Alejandro
- Año de publicación
- 2025
- Idioma
- inglés
- Tipo de recurso
- artículo
- Estado
- versión publicada
- Descripción
- This study estimates water consumption in two lithium mines (Olaroz and Fénix) that use different extraction technologies in Argentina’s salt flats. Based on Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), we assess the water footprint (WF) and brine consumption (BC) in both mines. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to estimate WF and BC for lithium extraction and provides data to assess water consumption and better understand its implications for local ecosystems and communities. We also contextualize freshwater consumption in lithium extraction projects by estimating the blue water intensity (WIblue) and the population equivalent (PE), namely the number of local inhabitants that would consume an equivalent volume of water. Total WF was 51.0 and 135.5 m3/ton of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) for Olaroz and Fénix, respectively. Per unit of product, WF was 2.7 times higher in Fénix but BC was higher in Olaroz. WIblue indicates that, while F´enix had a higher WFblue, its impact on local blue water availability is moderate due to greater local water availability. WFblue in Olaroz and Fénix was equivalent to the water consumption of 32,238 and 141,047 inhabitants of their nearest towns (Susques and Antofagasta de la Sierra, respectively, both with a current population of less than 2,100 inhabitants). Our findings underscore that the water consumption of lithium mining can have important impacts that vary significantly with geographic context. EIRs provide a useful basis for estimating WF and BC, though certain limitations and challenges persist, particularly regarding incomplete or insufficiently detailed data.
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo - Materia
-
Ciencias Naturales
Brine consumption
Freshwater consumption
Lithium extraction
Population equivalent
Water footprint - Nivel de accesibilidad
- acceso abierto
- Condiciones de uso
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Repositorio
- Institución
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata
- OAI Identificador
- oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/181846
Ver los metadatos del registro completo
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The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flatsDíaz Paz, Walter FernandoSeghezzo, LucasSalas Barboza, Ariela GriseldaEscosteguy, MelisaArias-Alvarado, Paula ValentinaKruse, Eduardo EmilioHufty, MarcIribarnegaray, Martín AlejandroCiencias NaturalesBrine consumptionFreshwater consumptionLithium extractionPopulation equivalentWater footprintThis study estimates water consumption in two lithium mines (Olaroz and Fénix) that use different extraction technologies in Argentina’s salt flats. Based on Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), we assess the water footprint (WF) and brine consumption (BC) in both mines. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to estimate WF and BC for lithium extraction and provides data to assess water consumption and better understand its implications for local ecosystems and communities. We also contextualize freshwater consumption in lithium extraction projects by estimating the blue water intensity (WIblue) and the population equivalent (PE), namely the number of local inhabitants that would consume an equivalent volume of water. Total WF was 51.0 and 135.5 m3/ton of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) for Olaroz and Fénix, respectively. Per unit of product, WF was 2.7 times higher in Fénix but BC was higher in Olaroz. WIblue indicates that, while F´enix had a higher WFblue, its impact on local blue water availability is moderate due to greater local water availability. WFblue in Olaroz and Fénix was equivalent to the water consumption of 32,238 and 141,047 inhabitants of their nearest towns (Susques and Antofagasta de la Sierra, respectively, both with a current population of less than 2,100 inhabitants). Our findings underscore that the water consumption of lithium mining can have important impacts that vary significantly with geographic context. EIRs provide a useful basis for estimating WF and BC, though certain limitations and challenges persist, particularly regarding incomplete or insufficiently detailed data.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo2025-02info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/181846enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/2405-8440info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42523info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:49:38Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/181846Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:49:38.984SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
title |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
spellingShingle |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats Díaz Paz, Walter Fernando Ciencias Naturales Brine consumption Freshwater consumption Lithium extraction Population equivalent Water footprint |
title_short |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
title_full |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
title_fullStr |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
title_full_unstemmed |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
title_sort |
The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina’s salt flats |
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Díaz Paz, Walter Fernando Seghezzo, Lucas Salas Barboza, Ariela Griselda Escosteguy, Melisa Arias-Alvarado, Paula Valentina Kruse, Eduardo Emilio Hufty, Marc Iribarnegaray, Martín Alejandro |
author |
Díaz Paz, Walter Fernando |
author_facet |
Díaz Paz, Walter Fernando Seghezzo, Lucas Salas Barboza, Ariela Griselda Escosteguy, Melisa Arias-Alvarado, Paula Valentina Kruse, Eduardo Emilio Hufty, Marc Iribarnegaray, Martín Alejandro |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Seghezzo, Lucas Salas Barboza, Ariela Griselda Escosteguy, Melisa Arias-Alvarado, Paula Valentina Kruse, Eduardo Emilio Hufty, Marc Iribarnegaray, Martín Alejandro |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author |
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Ciencias Naturales Brine consumption Freshwater consumption Lithium extraction Population equivalent Water footprint |
topic |
Ciencias Naturales Brine consumption Freshwater consumption Lithium extraction Population equivalent Water footprint |
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv |
This study estimates water consumption in two lithium mines (Olaroz and Fénix) that use different extraction technologies in Argentina’s salt flats. Based on Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), we assess the water footprint (WF) and brine consumption (BC) in both mines. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to estimate WF and BC for lithium extraction and provides data to assess water consumption and better understand its implications for local ecosystems and communities. We also contextualize freshwater consumption in lithium extraction projects by estimating the blue water intensity (WIblue) and the population equivalent (PE), namely the number of local inhabitants that would consume an equivalent volume of water. Total WF was 51.0 and 135.5 m3/ton of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) for Olaroz and Fénix, respectively. Per unit of product, WF was 2.7 times higher in Fénix but BC was higher in Olaroz. WIblue indicates that, while F´enix had a higher WFblue, its impact on local blue water availability is moderate due to greater local water availability. WFblue in Olaroz and Fénix was equivalent to the water consumption of 32,238 and 141,047 inhabitants of their nearest towns (Susques and Antofagasta de la Sierra, respectively, both with a current population of less than 2,100 inhabitants). Our findings underscore that the water consumption of lithium mining can have important impacts that vary significantly with geographic context. EIRs provide a useful basis for estimating WF and BC, though certain limitations and challenges persist, particularly regarding incomplete or insufficiently detailed data. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo |
description |
This study estimates water consumption in two lithium mines (Olaroz and Fénix) that use different extraction technologies in Argentina’s salt flats. Based on Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), we assess the water footprint (WF) and brine consumption (BC) in both mines. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to estimate WF and BC for lithium extraction and provides data to assess water consumption and better understand its implications for local ecosystems and communities. We also contextualize freshwater consumption in lithium extraction projects by estimating the blue water intensity (WIblue) and the population equivalent (PE), namely the number of local inhabitants that would consume an equivalent volume of water. Total WF was 51.0 and 135.5 m3/ton of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) for Olaroz and Fénix, respectively. Per unit of product, WF was 2.7 times higher in Fénix but BC was higher in Olaroz. WIblue indicates that, while F´enix had a higher WFblue, its impact on local blue water availability is moderate due to greater local water availability. WFblue in Olaroz and Fénix was equivalent to the water consumption of 32,238 and 141,047 inhabitants of their nearest towns (Susques and Antofagasta de la Sierra, respectively, both with a current population of less than 2,100 inhabitants). Our findings underscore that the water consumption of lithium mining can have important impacts that vary significantly with geographic context. EIRs provide a useful basis for estimating WF and BC, though certain limitations and challenges persist, particularly regarding incomplete or insufficiently detailed data. |
publishDate |
2025 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2025-02 |
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