Season 1

The Jadar Project:Lithium and Serbia's Energy Future with Dr. Branislav Simonović(CC for English)

with Dr. Branislav Simonović· 57m

TL;DR

Lithium mining in Serbia presents economic opportunities amid environmental concerns.

Synopsis

The podcast discusses the Jadar lithium project in Serbia, highlighting its potential to boost local economies while addressing environmental impacts. Dr. Simonović emphasizes the importance of lithium in the energy transition and the need for responsible mining practices.

Key metrics

by the numbers · 8

1.2 million tons
Jadar lithium deposit
75%
Lithium battery imports from China
22%
European lithium production target
66 MW
Kostolac wind farm capacity
10 MW
Largest solar power plant in Serbia
56,000 tons
Annual lithium carbonate production
250,000 tons
Boric acid production
260,000 tons
Sodium sulfate production

Topics

5 tags

lithium miningenergy transitionenvironmental impactJadar projectbattery production

Stats

Duration: 57m
Words: 5.7k
Questions: 13

Timeline

7 chapters

Introduction
The host introduces Dr. Branislav Simonović and the topic of lithium.
Role of Lithium
Dr. Simonović discusses the critical role of lithium in the energy transition.
Serbia's Energy System
Overview of Serbia's reliance on lignite and efforts in decarbonization.
Renewable Energy Projects
Details on Serbia's first larger wind farm and upcoming solar power plant.
Jadar Project Overview
Discussion on the Jadar lithium deposit and its strategic importance.
Lithium Extraction Process
Explanation of the lithium extraction process from jadarite.
Future of Energy Transition
Dr. Simonović shares insights on the future of Serbia's energy transition.

Key insights

4 takeaways

01
Lithium's Strategic Importance
Lithium is critical for the energy transition, with Europe aiming to increase local production.
02
Environmental Concerns vs. Economic Benefits
The Jadar project faces opposition due to environmental fears, despite potential economic gains.
03
Need for Responsible Mining
Responsible mining practices are essential to mitigate environmental impacts during lithium extraction.
04
Growth in Battery Demand
The demand for lithium batteries is expected to rise significantly with renewable energy expansion.

Pull quotes

2 quotes

The estimated amount is somewhere around 1.2 million tons of lithium.
Dr. Branislav Simonović
The plan is to produce some 56, 000 tons of lithium carbonate annually, of battery quality.
Dr. Branislav Simonović

Transcript522 cuesClick a timestamp to jump

Good day, Professor. Thank you for agreeing to be a guest on this podcast, and
today we have the honor of speaking with you about one of the most current topics in
Serbia. That is lithium. You are one of our greatest experts in this
field. So, we would like to start from the very beginning and your career path.
Yes. So, Niša, to begin, tell us how your studies started, how
you decided on physical chemistry, how your entire scientific work
developed from the beginning until now. A lot of years have passed, so a great
deal of experience. Well, I chose physical chemistry mostly
because of atomistics. That was the number one topic at the time.
We also had one of the largest institutes in Europe in Vinča for
nuclear sciences at that time. And since atomistics and radiochemistry were only
taught at the Department of Physical Chemistry in Belgrade, I opted for that faculty.
I graduated in physical chemistry from the Faculty of Science and Mathematics.
I received my master's degree from the same faculty, and I received my doctorate from the same faculty. After
that, immediately after graduating, I stayed at the Institute of General and Physical
Chemistry. I worked at the faculty for a while and then again at the institute,
and I spent almost my entire career at the Institute of General and Physical Chemistry,
of which I was also the director for some 18 years until my retirement.
During my scientific research work, I dealt with various topics.
For example, my diploma thesis was in radiation chemistry.
My master's thesis was in electrochemistry,
and my doctoral dissertation was in thermal analysis. After that, at the institute,
I worked on various problems, so I had the opportunity to acquire
quite a broad knowledge of various fields of physical chemistry. Among other things,
I also dealt a lot with, let's say, energy savings,
insulation materials, for example, and in recent years I have also created a
patent, an American patent, with insulation materials.
Then, how my connection with lithium began. I worked for one of the
largest European manufacturers of automobiles.
I was solving the problem of removing gases that are produced during the operation of lithium
batteries, and I think I solved it successfully. After
I was working on another similar project at that time for an Austrian institute.
Solving the removal of those gases. Primarily methane, carbon
monoxide, and carbon dioxide. And that job was successfully completed.
And while dealing with that problem, I had to familiarize myself with lithium
batteries in general, and then with lithium itself. So I
gained quite a broad knowledge and, let's say, some experience
in that area of lithium. Clearly,
clearly. And what do you think about the role of critical materials and lithium in
the energy transition?
Their role is huge and irreplaceable, and it's not for nothing that Europe, a year or
two ago, passed a regulation or law on critical mineral raw materials, which
lists 34 mineral raw materials of importance for
this so-called green transition and, in general, for semiconductor
technology, which is very important for the development
of modern computing and now especially for artificial intelligence.
When it comes to the green transition, we are primarily talking about lithium,
then about cobalt, about titanium, for example,
about nickel. And when it comes to semiconductors, we are talking about, I don't know, germanium,
silicon
and other rare earth elements because they are necessary for the production of semiconductors.
Europe is completely dependent on the import of these raw materials, and currently 100%
of these critical mineral raw materials, or
let's say critical metals, are imported, mostly from China. That is why
Europe has adopted this regulation, let's say, or rule on freeing itself from dependence on
imports, on creating conditions for its own production,
not of all, but of a larger part of these mineral raw materials. For example,
when it comes to lithium batteries, for example, about 75%
of lithium batteries are imported from China.
Somewhere around 11% is from Europe, somewhere around 7% is from the United States, and about
5% from all other countries. According to that European plan, in the
next five years, production in Europe should double,
meaning it should jump to about 22%, the Chinese share should decrease to about 50%,
the American share should also double, and in that way, Europe should, to some extent,
free itself from this dependence on these critical metals that are
necessary for both the green transition and semiconductor technologies.
So, let's get back to home turf a bit. What do you think, from your perspective,
how has the energy system in Serbia progressed, and what about decarbonization? What do you
think, how will that function in the coming period?
I can say that we, for example, my institute,
have worked a lot on the problem of environmental protection, given that Serbia is
reliant on the exploitation of lignite, which is available in large quantities, and that some
60%, I think, of the electricity is produced from thermal power plants.
And somewhere around 2003 or 2004, we did a large project, my
institute, a large project for Elektroprivreda, that is, for the Nikola Tesla thermal power plants.
And the name of that project was 'Solving the environmental problems caused by the operation of Nikola
Tesla, TENT thermal power plant Nikola Tesla.' And the results of that project,
Tesla.' And the results of that project,
in which people participated not only from our institute but also from other
institutes and universities, some 35
scientists of different profiles, and in that report, which is over 1000 pages long,
we looked at all the problems in the operation of the Nikola Tesla Thermal Power Plant,
from health, sociological, legal problems to purely
technological ones, the issue of gas emissions, particle emissions, the issue of wastewater,
the issue of ash landfills, disposal, eventual utilization of ash.
And that's when the first, let's say, solutions to those problems began.
So, in the past 15 years or so, a lot has been done on
reducing emissions of pollutants, primarily particles and
gases, and that
in parallel with that, in recent years, work has begun on so-called renewable
energy sources. This primarily refers to wind energy and solar energy.
And I can tell you that the first larger wind farm within EPS
was built in Kostolac on a former, abandoned ash landfill
that was recultivated, and some 20 wind
turbines were installed. Their power is around 66 MW. In addition, at
the same location, on some 15 hectares, a large solar power plant is being built. It will
be the largest solar power plant in Serbia. It is, I think, about 10 MW in capacity.
Yes. Also from EPS. It's all within EPS.. There are
some, wind farms of smaller capacity about which I couldn't say anything specific.
da govorim.
Okay, can you tell us something about lithium, about lithium, about its application,
especially now in these renewable energy sources where it's used, as well as for
batteries? In your work, it says that lithium has a wide application. So, can
you tell us something about lithium itself and its application in today's
system?,
lithium has gained importance in the last 20 or so
years. It was used quite a bit before that. The biggest application of lithium
before the discovery of these lithium batteries was in metallurgy, in the production
of aluminum, because the addition of lithium salts significantly lowers the temperature and
there are great energy savings. Besides that, lithium was also used quite a bit before these
batteries for the production of special glasses. These are the so-called
"pixk" glasses, which, in addition to boron, also contain lithium.
And, with the invention of lithium batteries, the importance of lithium is growing incredibly fast, and
lithium is becoming one of those most critical mineral
raw materials, or metals. Lithium as a metal.
Why is that? Lithium has some properties that make it exceptional.
It is a very light metal. Its density is 0.534 g per cubic cm. That means almost two
times less density than the density of water. And that again has an exceptional
redox potential of -3.04 V, which makes it very suitable for making
batteries. First, these so-called primary lithium batteries were made. So, those
are not rechargeable, they are for single use. Those are these button
batteries that are found in calculators, in clocks,
in various small electronic devices.
After that, lithium-ion batteries were made, which are rechargeable and can
withstand over 1000 charge and discharge cycles without significant
reduction in the capacity of those lithium batteries.
And those batteries started to be used in various electric and electrical
tools, in various electronic devices,
even in pacemakers, for example.
Besides that, this so-called green transition, which relies on
the production of electricity from wind energy, meaning from wind farms, from
solar power plants, imposed the need for the production
of lithium batteries in which that produced energy would be stored.
So that it can be used even when there is no
sun. And that
further increased the demand for lithium because the construction of those solar power plants
created the need for a large number of those lithium batteries.
Besides batteries, I can also say something about other applications of lithium because that
shows why Europe included lithium in those critical raw materials.
Lithium is used, or rather, different lithium salts can be used,
for example, for industrial gas drying. These are chlorides, bromides, of lithium.
Then for the production of oxygen in enclosed
spaces. That's lithium perchlorate which releases oxygen, so in
submarines, for example, or in spacecraft, oxygen can be created. And
lithium hydroxide, for example, can absorb, soak up, carbon dioxide, so
it is also used for the same purposes to enable crews to stay longer in those
enclosed spaces. In addition, lithium is used for the production of
glass-ceramics for different types of dishware, for glass-ceramic plates in
electric stoves or induction furnaces.
In addition, lithium is used in metallurgy for the production of special
alloys, since it is light. They are built with, for example, aluminum and
magnesium, which are very light but very strong and durable, and are used for
the production of aircraft parts.. This saves a significant amount of fuel because
lighter aircraft are made, along with composite materials that are used for
the production of such aircraft. A significant application of lithium is also in
medicine..
Since the mid-19th century, a more significant application of
lithium compounds, primarily lithium carbonate, has begun because it has been shown that these
compounds have a calming effect on the human organism. The very mechanism
of action of lithium salts is not fully studied and is still being worked on. But
there are numerous results and clinical trials that show
that lithium can be successfully used in medicine for the treatment of
so-called bipolar disorder. These are disorders in which mood
rises or falls sharply, leading to major changes in people and causing
a large number of suicides. According to data from the World Health
Organization, somewhere around 800, 000 suicides occur in the course of a
year, and these suicides are particularly high in highly developed countries and in
Europe, among other places.
the doses that are used to treat these
various manias, including schizophrenia, and for these bipolar
disorders range from 600 mg per day up to 2400
mg per day. I mention this also because we will talk about something later about
opponents of the excavation and extraction of lithium who
cite microgram quantities of lithium as extremely dangerous and toxic, which is
complete nonsense. If up to 2.4 g per
day is used in medicine, . We can't talk about micrograms
of lithium, as some opponents of that excavation and extraction
of lithium say.
it turned out that in areas where the presence of lithium in drinking
water is slightly increased compared to average amounts,
that is, lithium content in drinking water, which means from about 70 to 150,
160 micrograms per liter.. Studies have shown that in those
areas, the number of suicides is significantly reduced,
explain, regarding lithium exploitation, how that exploitation can
affect the water, the food, the people in the surrounding area,
and also how the presence of lithium in water affects the realization of lithium
exploitation projects? Probably because of all these studies and
postponements and different opinions about those projects.
fabricated.
I want to start by telling you something about the impact on the environment in general.
Many people idealize the real situation.
There is no human activity that does not affect the environment.
Therefore, the requirement that any technology
or the extraction of any metal or non-metal be achieved without any impact on
the environment is absurd and impossible. If you build a house on, I don't know, a hundred
square meters, you have usurped 100 square meters of land. You no longer have it for
agriculture. Besides, people who live in it need to heat it, they will use either
wood or coal or electricity, which again requires the consumption of
some fossil fuels. In addition, they will generate a certain amount of waste that
needs to be taken away, wastewater that needs to be treated.
Therefore, talking about the possibility of any human activity without impact
on the environment is completely absurd. Yes. Yes.
What needs to be done is to reduce all impacts on the environment to
the smallest possible extent given the current state of technological development and the current level
of our knowledge in general. So, to reduce all these possible impacts
to the smallest possible extent. Minimum. Yes. Now,
the story about the danger of lithium in Serbia arose for purely political reasons.
There isn't a single, let's say scientific argument or evidence that it is
really as it is presented to the public.
Especially the fact that in Serbia, according to data from
some internet pages, over 300, 000 thousand people know everything about lithium.
It's as if Serbs have a gene for lithium.
And they spread various untruths through social networks,
dangers of lithium. Lithium will do this, will do that, and the ordinary people
are somewhat confused, especially since some people with titles and
scientific degrees were doing it..
But they never presented a single real argument for it. I can tell you,
let's say, when it comes to mining,
there is a European standard, the so-called IRMA standard, of some 500 and something
pages, which describes in detail everything that must be done for that
mining to be, how shall I put it, responsible, that is,
not to affect, or not to affect so much, the environment.
And there you have, on some 170 pages, for example, what needs to be done to
protect the environment, and on some 120 pages you have about the so-called
social responsibility in mining.
And what should be mentioned is that factories that buy products created by
such mining will demand fulfillment of that IRMA standard, otherwise they won't buy those
products, and that would in a way be the best protection for the future producer
because if they want to sell those products, they have to meet that standard,
that is, to protect the environment as much as possible.
Clearly. Let's ask about Jad. Yes. Since
a significant part of your city focuses precisely on the Jadar project in Serbia, can
you give us an overview of its potential benefits, as well as all the
concerns that surround that project? Yes. Sometime around 2004, I think
in the Jadar River valley, which is near Loznica,
a lithium deposit was discovered. The estimated amount is somewhere around 1.2
million tons of lithium. And lithium at that time,
of discovery and later possible exploitation, was a very desirable
metal in Serbia. Even the Government of Serbia in 2008
and 2011 declared that Jadar project a project of strategic importance for
Serbia, and all the way up to 2020, lithium was the most harmless and
most useful element of the periodic table, at least in Serbia..
No one had anything against lithium. Only in 2020 did the first
let's say,
protests against lithium mining appear,
and many of those who participated in the protests had previously been in some
way involved in the realization of this lithium project. That tells you that it is
not about scientific foundation of such claims, but about purely
political intentions.
And then that story started about the danger of mining and the danger of obtaining
lithium. Lithium in Jadar should be extracted from depths of about 350 to
around 650 m deep. That means that no impact on the surface
can come from 350 or 650 m. All
the devices that would be used for lithium mining are electric.
That means it's impossible to use classic internal combustion engines for
anything. Besides that,
the impact they mentioned, the impact on groundwater, is impossible from that depth
because you have a layer of 300 to 600 m of soil.
And the surface can't feel that in any way.
What needs to be said is that the entire project will occupy somewhere between 300 and
400 hectares, which is less than 1%
of the total area of that Jadar region. Therefore, some major environmental
impacts cannot come from such a small area. Even if there are some
large emissions. Pardon. Pardon. There can't be any from the mine.
That ore, I can tell you something about the Jadar project itself.
Sure. That ore would be
after extraction, crushed,
and the separation of these fractions that it contains would be carried out, since that lithium
is the mineral jadarite, which, according to its chemical composition, is
sodium lithium boron silicate.
And those are crystals the size of a few millimeters to about ten millimeters. And by crushing
the ore, these jadarite crystals are extracted, which are then,
in the extraction process, I can briefly tell you what it consists of,
can, that lithium extraction process.
So, the dissolving of this jadarite is carried out in closed containers in
sulfuric acid at 90°C.
The main story of the opponents of lithium was how sulfuric acid would be used
at 250° Celsius, so copious sulfuric
gases would come out, which would destroy everything around, plant and animal life, which would
spread by the current
of winds to Loznica, Šabac, even Belgrade. Some said throughout Serbia.
I can tell you that sulfuric acid at 90°
evaporates five times less than water at 0°C.
Therefore, there is no evaporation of sulfuric gases and no emissions
of sulfuric gases.
After all, I cited the example of a sulfuric acid factory in the middle of Hamburg,
since they process copper there.. And there's a factory that produces
over 2 million tons of sulfuric acid, which is stored there, and it hasn't
occurred to anyone there to say that it will destroy Hamburg or the province
in which Hamburg is located, or even the whole of Germany, as the next
phase after this lithium dissolution suggests.
That is neutralization. So, sodium carbonate is added, and
something else, and calcium hydroxide, or slaked lime.
Then the lithium precipitates as lithium
carbonate or lithium bicarbonate.. Just to add that the main products
from this lithium extraction from jadarite, besides lithium
carbonate, is that the plan is to produce some 56, 000
tons of lithium carbonate annually, of battery quality.
Besides that, around, I think, 250, 000 tons of boric
acid should also be obtained, and as a by-product, also around 260,
000 tons of sodium sulfate, which is mostly used in the detergent
industry for water softening. Now,
the next process in obtaining lithium is crystallization. If the temperature
is lowered slightly from those saturated solutions, crystallization occurs.
After that, the crystallized part is separated and reheated, since the
boric acid has precipitated, it is reheated again, and lithium bicarbonate turns into
lithium carbonate. When the temperature drops, lithium carbonate crystallizes,
and then there are these processes of filtration,
drying, grinding, and packaging. Now,
during that process, wastewater and solid
waste are generated. The story that this wastewater will be
discharged is completely unfounded. That wastewater will be purified,
and part of it will be returned to the process. And a part that is discharged
is purified through six different purification processes. First, there's
microfiltration, meaning particles of micron size are
removed, then nanofiltration, particles of nanometer size are removed.
Then there are two stages of reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis is a process that is
used to obtain drinking water in these Arab countries, where drinking water
is obtained from sea or ocean water. And then there is ion exchange.
various resins are used that have the property of binding the heavy metals that are
left in the water to the ion exchanger. So, completely
demineralized water is obtained, and that water is so clean that it cannot
be discharged into the Jadar River because it will disrupt the mineral composition of the river. Because
of that, certain amounts of minerals, primarily sodium, calcium, magnesium, are
added to that demineralized water so that it can be discharged into the Jadar River without
affecting the plant and animal life..
Regarding the solid waste that also results from this process,
since calcium hydroxide is added there, as I mentioned, slaked
lime, and there are sulfates and sulfuric acid, a good portion of gypsum, calcium sulfate, is created,
which is insoluble and binds a lot of what
was in the solution of dissolved metals.
That solid waste is then pressed and dried, and according to the project, it should be placed
on a solid waste landfill that would be specifically constructed
in that area, elevated from the rest of the area to prevent
spillage or leaching of some heavy metals from that landfill during
atmospheric precipitation..
So, that solid waste would be disposed of in that landfill. Now,
the only test that exists for examining the hazardousness of solid waste is that
so-called leaching test. A certain amount of solid
waste is taken,
mixed with water or a mild solution of acid, and then it's left for some 48 to 72 hours, stirred well,
and an analysis of those leached elements is performed, and there's a standard, there's also an
ASN standard for the amounts that are allowed in the solution,
meaning, the amounts of metals that have leached from the
solid waste. And the results obtained with this solid waste have shown that all
concentrations of these metals are
100 to 1000 times less than allowed by this ASM standard. Therefore, that
argument, let's say, of waste, because concentrations of those heavy metals dangerous
cannot be leached from that solid waste
to the environment. I see.
Clearly. I have this question because, this like,
some green agenda plan for the Balkans is to eliminate coal from use by 2030,
as an energy source. How, for example, does
lithium fit into that transition of eliminating coal and switching to some
new sources of energy? I don't believe that 2030 is
marked for the Balkans as a key year by which this green transition
should be achieved. We are still quite far from that. We have done
a lot to reduce emissions of gases and particles.
And this new thermal power plant that was built now in Kostolac, it
has a capacity of, I think, 350 MW. It also has the removal of sulfur gases and the removal of
nitrogen gases. So, that desulfurization, as it's called, and
denitrification..
Besides that, in Tent, the same thing is being done. Removal of sulfur gases,
and I don't believe we can do that by 2030. We are working a lot
on reducing emissions. But I want to mention one more thing to you.
During the time of the Ukrainian war and the energy crisis in
Europe, you saw that Germany activated its coal-fired power plants.
Therefore, all the talk about the dangers of gases
in the production of electricity from fossil fuels falls apart when the
situation forces you to. Yes.
Now, it is very expensive if thermal
power plants are shut down once to be put back into operation. It takes a long time,
for sure. But they activated their coal-fired power plants so they could
supply electricity because they ran out of gas.
That's why I say I don't believe that 2030 will apply to the Balkans., as far as I
have seen, Serbia's plan is to increase the production of so-called
green energy or energy from renewable sources to about 40% in the next maybe
ten years. Not
not 100%. We have some hydroelectric power plants.
So, in parallel with increasing production from renewable sources,
the production of electricity from fossil fuels should be reduced.
But it should not be forgotten that the consumption of electricity, especially
with the use of artificial intelligence, will increase significantly.
Therefore, ensuring the supply of electricity
in those increased quantities will not be
at all simple, nor cheap, nor quickly achievable.
Therefore, Serbia will, I think, continue to get a good part of its electricity
from fossil fuels.
I think there's also some goal for 2030 that every other mega should be from renewable
sources., and we wanted to ask you, considering
the increasing importance of lithium and its application in technology, as you
pointed out, should Serbia and the Balkans redesign capacity mechanisms
to support all these enormous sources that are growing exponentially as
demand for electricity increases. In September 2023, Serbia signed
an agreement with the European Union on
the exploitation of critical mineral raw materials,
primarily lithium, and regardless of all the stories, it is certain
that obtaining lithium in Serbia
is an opportunity that comes once in 100 or more years for Serbia.
primarily not only the direct material benefit from the production
of lithium itself, but it won't be insignificant either, because besides
the mining rent, a certain number of people will be employed.
Income will be generated from taxes on the salaries of those employees, from taxes on
profits, and what have you. But further exploitation of that obtained
lithium carbonate refers primarily to the production of lithium batteries, which
it would be logical to achieve in Serbia due to transport.
Because transporting lithium carbonate to any country in Europe or some 10-20
km from the place of origin is not the same. It is much more favorable to do it in Serbia.
And the next phase in that would be the production of those batteries, especially for
the green transition, not only for the automotive industry, because
I estimate that in the coming years, the demand for these lithium
batteries for storing electricity produced in
wind farms will increase more and more. In wind farms or in solar
power plants. And of course, the production, possible
production of electric cars or various devices that use
lithium batteries. Therefore, there is a great opportunity for the development
not only of obtaining lithium but also of various products in which lithium is
used. Just to ask you, since we are talking about lithium and you also talked about
regarding the vision of the transition, the energy transition in Serbia, I would like to ask you what you
think about hydrogen as part of the energy transition?
Is it something that could rival lithium in transport, or is it something
we see over a longer period, perhaps
2050?
I think that, lithium and hydrogen are not mutually exclusive. Hydrogen cannot supplant
lithium because I've already talked about the wide application
of lithium, but hydrogen can be a part of that, let's
say, green transition.,
hydrogen can be used for various purposes as a fuel,
for example, for cars, and cars running on hydrogen
have already been made. Besides that, it can be used as an energy source
in various ways, completely harmless because
the combustion of hydrogen produces water, water vapor, which
is harmless to the environment. Yes. The biggest problem with, hydrogen, with
its application, is its storage and transport over longer
distances. According to the plans of some European countries,
hydrogen would be produced from electric energy during times when there is
reduced consumption, for example, at night when there is reduced
electricity consumption. And now the problem is how to store that hydrogen.
And there is a lot of work being done on solid
materials that can absorb large quantities of hydrogen and retain it
until the moment of application. So, the biggest problem with hydrogen is its
storage for later use, not just for use at the moment of its creation.
I see, I see.
I don't know, colleague, if you have any other questions so I can finish.
in the end to have, since you have great experience
in the academic community. How do you see the cooperation between decision-makers
the academic community, and industry, for example?
That is a problem in Serbia that has existed for a long time. It is
relatively little engagement of scientists, institutes, and universities in
the business of our economy, especially after the privatization that was
done somewhere between 2000 and 2005, 2008, when many firms were privatized,
and firms that foreigners bought have their own development somewhere abroad,
and here they only do routine analyses, and in that way, many institutes and faculties are
practically excluded from these economic activities.
Before that, those enterprises, our large factories, combines, were reliant on our
institutes and faculties. And I can tell you for my institute, of which I was the director,
for years we solved various technological problems in many
industries throughout Yugoslavia, not only in Serbia.
After 2000, all those large systems either failed or were privatized. And
not only we, but institutes in Serbia, practically remained without
jobs in the economy.
Small private firms rarely have a need for any
development. Their needs are reduced to one-time
analyses. When they need something, someone asks them for something, whether there is so
much of this or that much of that, or whether the emission through gases or through water
is this much or that much. But those are not development jobs, those are routine analyses
that cannot justify the existence of an institute as it once was.
And these technological development projects that
exist within the ministry are getting smaller
in scope and importance. So that
the institutes are largely excluded from solving those problems that can
occur in every production. You have some problem every day,
either to
carry out rationalization, or there is no raw material, or there is no quality
of raw material. You procure some other. So you need to solve the problem of how to now replace
a raw material of higher quality with a raw material of lower quality, and then that
is solved by institutes and faculties.
I say that mostly doesn't exist today. Yes.
Okay. Yes. Nothing.
Basically, that's all the questions we had. I don't know if you want to tell us
anything else significant, interesting, about which
or a message or some message. Yes.
How, how, can these disinformation around lithium
be addressed, for example, since now everyone is an expert on some things?
But thank you very much for conveying this from a scientific
perspective. Here, I want to tell you, I want to read you
something. Aha.
In Serbia, there is a code of conduct in scientific research
work. Okay. And in it, the code dictates that
objectivity in interpretation and conclusion must be based on facts
and data that can be proven and re-
verified. Then impartiality and independence from
interested parties,
from ideological or interest-based political groups.
Clearly. And
I think it is most important that everyone who deals with lithium, the topic of lithium,
adheres to this if they are from science. And that other people,
and those are primarily athletes, singers, actors,
directors, gynecologists, doctors who deal with lithium, but who have no
idea about it and spread falsehoods that ordinary people who are not
familiar with these things fall for. A particular problem are these so-called
social networks. Before, when you wrote something,
at least one person, an editor, would read it and say, this makes sense or this doesn't make sense
to publish. Today, you can
post whatever comes to your mind on social networks and people who know little about these things
fall for these stories because they say it's written somewhere there. The one who wrote it probably
knows something about it. I think a
code should be created for social networks and for everything realistically. Yes. And in my work, I cited
that example of the influence of social networks, the negative influence, and especially bad
news spreads quickly. Good news has always spread much slower in the newspapers
than bad news. When you say someone killed so-and-so, raped, robbed, that
goes around the world instantly. And when you say, I don't know, our high school students from the mathematical
high school won so many medals, no one notices it.
That's right. Yes. Well, everything should start from
the individual, like the energy transition, like the reduction of emissions. That is
the starting point, and that we all adhere to some code and rules of conduct, and then we can
talk and discuss bigger things. That's why I allowed myself to read you
what the code says. Thank you very much for that, and thank you very much
for agreeing to be a guest on this podcast. I am sure that the listeners will
enjoy your information and experience. Thank
you very much. Thank you once again, professor.
Thank you too.

The Jadar Project:Lithium and Serbia's Energy Future with Dr. Branislav Simonović(CC for English)

Lithium's Strategic Importance

Environmental Concerns vs. Economic Benefits

Need for Responsible Mining

Growth in Battery Demand