"So transitioning to a green economy means getting rid of the main source of sulfuric acid while making sure we need more of it than ever.

This is a major crisis that, due to sulfur's perceived abundance, has gone largely unnoticed thus far."

Sulfur crisis: Going green will cause severe sulfuric acid shortage - study (msn.com)

So, how would this affect Lithium Americas situation at the Thacker Pass Project in Nevada?

The Thacker Pass EIS:

" Construction of a sulfuric acid plant that will generate sulfuric acid for use in a leaching process and will also generate steam for energy that will provide power to support the Project. Excess heat, in the form a steam, will be diverted to a turbo generator to produce electricity for the lithium process. The sulfuric acid plant will generate electrical power using double contact double absorption technology with an integrated steam turbo generator set"

"The first step (Step 1) in the lithium sulfide production process will require the production of hydrogen gas using a standard water electrolysis cell and purified water. Following production of hydrogen, molten sulfur will react with hydrogen to spontaneously produce high-purity hydrogen sulfide gas (Step 2)"

The EIS goes on to state in section 3.16 (Reagents and Chemicals Storage and Use) that the annual use of molten sulfur at the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine will be:  340,247 tons and the maximum amount of molten sulfur in storage at any one time at the mine would be: 13,454 tons.

So, does the article proclaiming a future "Sulfur Crisis" have any immediate bearing on the proposed Thacker Pass Lithium Mine?

Apparently not, according to this statement from Aaron Reich, the author of the article about the future "Sulfur Crisis":  "All of this is complicated by the fact that currently, sulfur is so cheap and plentiful that there is little immediate incentive to deal with it."

It boils down to being a future problem on down the road a long time after Judge Miranda Du will have rendered her verdict on whether or not Thacker Pass will be constructed in the first place.  Still, it is quite an interesting article and is based on research published in the peer-reviewed academic periodical "The Geographical Journal". 

According to Mr. Reich study in "The Geographical Journal" purports to "show how the demand for sulfuric acid will skyrocket in the coming years due to a decrease in fossil fuels and the shift to a green economy - and the world isn't ready to handle it."

So, bottom line:  The Sky is Falling... but not today, maybe in a few years?  No panic.  For myself, I was struck by the irony of how this future calimity is blamed on the projected decrease in fossil fuels as the world shifts more towards a "green economy".  Just another version of "When you through a stone into the pond it creates a ripple effect" and some of the ripples may have unwelcome consequences.  

Onward through the FOG!   That's Life in the Frog Pond.. or is it the Fog Pond?

Okiedo