"An exploration of the rise of lithium batteries and the impications of the new energy economy"--Provided by publisher. The tools that have become so ubiquitous--laptops, iPods, and cell phones--are all powered by lithium batteries. This element may also hold the key to an environmentally sustainable, oil-independent future. From electric cars to a "smart" power grid that can actually store electricity, letting us harness the powers of the sun and wind and use them when we need them, lithium--found primarily in some of the most uninhabitable places on Earth--is key to the path toward a carbon-free future. It's also shifting the geopolitical chessboard in profound ways. Science reporter Seth Fletcher takes us on a journey from the salt flats of Bolivia to the labs of MIT and Stanford, introducing us to the key players and ideas in an industry with the power to reshape the world. Lithium ties together many key stories of our time: the environmental movement, the American auto industry, the struggle between first-world countries in need of natural resources and the countries where those resources are found, and a foundering American economy, desperately searching for a green-tech boom.--From publisher description.