Friday, February 13, 2009

Lithium-rich Bolivia now a global player

In the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: Almost half of the world's lithium, the mineral needed to power the vehicles, is found in Bolivia - a country that may not be willing to surrender it easily.

Japanese and European companies are busily trying to strike deals to tap the resource, but a nationalist sentiment about the lithium is building quickly in the government of President Evo Morales, an ardent critic of the United States who has already nationalized Bolivia's oil and natural gas industries.

"We know that Bolivia can become the Saudi Arabia of lithium,
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[So we're going to trade our dependance on foreign oil to foreign lithium - also from a hostile nation. OR - we could develop our own vast resources...


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