The Great Salt Lake is becoming a toxic bowl of dust — it may also contain the answer to a greener future

• A startup plans to extract lithium from the Great Salt Lake by temporarily sucking up its water.
• Lilac Solutions says it can extract lithium without environmental damage.
• They recently raised $145 million from investors, including Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Utah's Great Salt Lake is leaving behind a toxic bowl of dust as it disappears — but hope for a greener future may also lay in the salty water.