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Public Understanding of Geoethics Dilemmas: A survey on Lithium Exploitation

2022; Springer International Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-030-94651-7_17

2662-947X

Clara Vasconcelos, Sara Moutinho, Tiago Ribeiro, Alexandre Lima,

Radioactivity and Radon Measurements

Lithium holds high potential in technology, mainly green technologies, presenting notable economic and environmental importance. In the north of Portugal, there are several regions with particular potential for lithium exploration. Portuguese exploitation of lithium has generated significant controversies, mainly in the populations neighboring the potential exploitation areas. To understand Portuguese citizens' perceptions about the exploitation of metallic minerals in Portugal, particularly lithium, and their opinions on geoethical dilemmas associated with this activity, a questionnaire was applied to 132 participants, aged between 18 and 74 years (average of 33.6 years), of which 56 (42.4%) were female and 76 (57.6%) male. The majority of participants (n = 118; 89.39%) recognize the potential of lithium in the production of batteries for electronic devices and cars, as well as the locations of Covas do Barroso and Sepeda as two of the main sites for lithium exploitation in Portugal (n = 49; 37.12%). Most participants consider that a geoethical reflection should be made regarding the exploration and exploitation of lithium, the location of nuclear waste safe deposits, the sustainable infrastructures' construction, the development of geoparks, and organization of geological tours/hikes in areas of geological and landscape interest. They also admit that it is essential to adopt behaviors and attitudes related to ethical, cultural, and social values when carrying out prospecting and mining. Geoethics Lithium-ion batteries are growing in popularity and are often used in electric vehicles as green energy. The code of this chapter is 01001100 01101001 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110101 01101101 00001101 00001010.