Electric cars promise cleaner air and quieter streets. But in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the world’s thirst for lithium, the metal that powers EV batteries, laptops, and home storage, is colliding with a far older dependency: water. As global lithium demand more than doubled between 2021 and 2024 (with forecasts to quadruple again by 2040), locals in the Salar de Atacama say wetlands have cracked, lagoons have shrunk, and flamingo populations are faltering.
The BBC’s on-the-ground reporting captures a complicated truth: the energy transition can save the climate, and still strain fragile places if we don’t get it right.
What’s truly noteworthy here is the emerging pivot to “how” we mine, not just “how much.” Chile is expanding lithium production through a new SQM–Codelco partnership approved to boost output through 2060.
Yet companies are also piloting mitigation: direct lithium extraction that avoids open evaporation ponds, and tech to capture evaporated water and re-inject it underground, potentially halving brine extraction starting in 2031. If these innovations scale responsibly, they could become a blueprint for balancing climate goals with water security.
Still, the risk is real and immediate. Biologists report smaller lagoons and fewer flamingo chicks, disruptions that ripple through the food chain. Indigenous communities are grappling with shifting water systems and rising uncertainty about what comes next if the aquifers don’t recover.
It’s a story about trade-offs, and about who bears them. For women over 35 who make many household sustainability choices, this matters: the products we embrace for cleaner futures should also protect the water and wildlife families depend on.
Quote that lingers: But it’s our water that’s being taken. Our sacred birds that are disappearing. Faviola González, biologist and indigenous community member, Los Flamencos National Reserve
Why it matters now: EV adoption is accelerating, policy incentives are in full swing, and lithium supply chains are being locked in for decades. Decisions made today, about technology, community engagement, and water safeguards, will determine whether green tech is truly sustainable, or simply shifts the burden to places like the Atacama.
Curious how Chile plans to square climate progress with water protection, and whether new tech can deliver? Read the article on the BBC!
