In particular, the advantages offered by continual advances in plug-in and electric vehicles and battery technology will continue to offer cleaner, greener and more sustainable solutions than those of oil-burning technologies, such as gasoline-powered vehicles.
"The critics automatically point out that many green technologies, such as plug-ins and all-electric cars, rely on carbon-based fuels to create the electricity needed to power them," commented Matthew Worrall, AmeriLithium’s Chief Executive Officer.
"While the majority of America’s electricity does come from burning coal and natural gas, we’re also making technological advances on those fronts too, all of which allows these new green technologies to operate in more environmentally friendly ways than ever before. Besides, the alternative is no alternative at all: to continue relying on oil despite it being a limited, and increasingly expensive, natural resource, both in terms of financial and environmental expense."
Through new technologies such as flue gas desulfurization equipment ("scrubbers"), catalytic converters, electrostatic precipitators and baghouses, coal emissions from electricity generating power plants have dropped by roughly 33% in the last 30 years while coal use has nearly tripled in that same time.
Meanwhile, the use of cleaner-burning natural gas to produce electricity is on the rise while the Energy Information Administration expects 57% of new electricity generation capacity built by 2025 will be natural gas-powered.
In sharp contrast, BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill has already had severe effects on the environment and economy, including:
* Sea turtles found dead: 444
* Birds found dead: 1,387
* Days that oil gushed into the Gulf: 85
* Estimated number of gallons of oil leaked: 184 million
* Shoreline currently oiled: 572 miles
* Area of visible slick: 2,700 square miles
* Area closed to fishing: 83,927 square miles
* Gallons of dispersant ‘clean up’ chemicals applied: 1.82 million
* Market value of the spilled oil: $336 million
* Cost to BP: $30 billion to date
Not to mention the long-term environmental damage, the scope and time-length of which cannot even be predicted by experts. Populations of dolphins, whale sharks and sea turtles may not recover for years, according to a July 16, 2010 article in The Guardian, while also pointing out that fish and shrimp-breeding habitats will have been adversely affected.
And while spills such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico are relatively rare oil industry occurrences, the 184 million barrels of oil in question are no more than Americans burn every five hours and 10 minutes on a regular basis.
With such massive dependence on and consumption of oil, companies such as BP continue to make record profits (BP’s Q2 2010 profits were expected to have risen 77% to $5 billion, had the spill not occurred, according to a July 26 Reuters article).
And even while BP’s attempts to stop the gushing oil well had yet to be proven successful, the company announced on July 19, 2010 that it would expand its offshore portfolio by developing new Mediterranean Sea hydrocarbon deposits through an agreement with Egypt’s government.
The new development will add to BP’s daily production of 2.5 million barrels of oil production, about a third of which comes from deepwater production, with all its challenges and dangers (according to the federal Minerals Management Service, since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf of Mexico alone).
Still, BP continues exploring offshore the coasts of foreign countries such as Libya and Egypt, and is the leading foreign investor in Azerbaijan, operating two major fields in that country’s waters.
In comparison, green technologies, such as today’s emerging plug-in and all-electric vehicles, not only avoid the dangers of offshore drilling, but also rely on domestically produced electricity for their power. And with roughly 69% of America’s electricity being generated by coal or natural gas-powered plants, this energy source also represents far greater energy independence than that of relying on foreign oil reserves (America has the world’s largest reserves of recoverable coal and is the world’s second largest producer of natural gas, meeting about 25% of the nation’s energy needs).
Furthermore, electricity can also be generated domestically through completely renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, solar power, hydro and waves.
Lithium is a lightweight metal used in a wide range of consumer products the world over: the medical industry uses Lithium as an anti-depressant; industrial uses include glass, ceramic and porcelain enamel manufacture; the aviation industry uses Lithium in alloys. Of particular interest is the use of Lithium for battery production, which has expanded significantly in recent years due to rechargeable Lithium batteries being used increasingly in electrical tools and in the rapidly expanding portable electronics market. Furthermore, the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles are being designed to use high-capacity Lithium-ion batteries as environmentally-friendly fuel alternatives while the Obama administration has introduced $5 billion in funding and incentives for the development of a secure, domestic battery industry with special focus on Lithium-ion batteries.
AmeriLithium is a publicly traded (NASD OTC BB: AMEL), mining company committed to progressively developing into one of the leading American players in the global Lithium industry. The Company is headquartered in Henderson, NV. AmeriLithium has amassed a Lithium portfolio consisting of ~724,000 acres, including three Nevada-based projects nearby the only Lithium producing plant in the US, a large project in Alberta, Canada, and a project in Western Australia.
