Originally Posted by
2dPilot
@LGMX. Lithium reacts with water to produce Lithium Hydroxide and Hydrogen. Lithium Hydroxide is already present in seawater in fairly high proportions (around 0.2 parts per million - around 230 billion tonnes of Lithium, world-wide) - a tonne extra would be, well, a drop in the ocean.
Technically true. However, lithium batteries don't contain metallic lithium. They (typically) contain lithium cobalt oxide, which is, I believe, chemically inert with regard to water.
The general problem with lithium batteries is that they pack a substantial amount of energy. A short in a fully charged lithium battery can easily heat it by 200 degrees Celsius. If there's another lithium battery nearby, this heat can short it and cause it to release its own energy, etc. in a chain reaction. That's why we have specific packing requirements for the transport of lithium batteries. We need the packaging to contain and isolate any individual short that occurs.