Benzinga Money is a reader-supported publication. We may earn a commission from the advertisers associated with this article.  Read our Advertiser Discloser . What do electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and your smartphone have in common? All of their batteries use lithium, a naturally-occurring metal that’s seeing growing demand from manufacturers around the world.  Unlike other natural resources, the challenge in meeting this multi-billion dollar demand isn’t finding enough of it —it’s the 16th most-common element found in the Earth’s crust—but the extraction process. Traditional methods take up to 18 months and only recover 30% of lithium found in salt lakes or other minerals.…