A materials win-win?
As far as I know (i.e. I might be speaking out of my @$$), the primary source of sodium in industry is salt. (I'm near a major salt mine, and I think it's still operational at reduced levels.) The byproduct of this is chlorine. Given the ongoing pandemic, bleach and other chlorine products are in demand now more than ever. So let's mine some more salt and provide feedstocks to both cleaners and batteries!
(P.S. I never knew just how much chlorine "bleach" one family could use until we bought a house with an inground pool last year -- 30,000 gallons, 10 foot max depth. Just trying to keep it safe, clean, and clear takes a LOT of "chlorinator" and some "shock" (also chlorine-based). Note that "clean" water isn't necessarily completely "clear", and vice versa, and if you use too much chlorine it's no longer "safe", causing skin/eye issues -- essentially a chemical burn. When we removed the dark winter cover a month ago, the algae started to grow and we couldn't get the chlorine levels up until I added a jug of algaecide. Once that was killed off and vacuumed out then we got the water chemistry stabilized and much clearer too.)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
