All Related News Articles and Events
Jan 19: Critical Minerals and Materials Town Hall
A Lab wide town hall was held on January 19th, 2022 to prepare LBNL for multiple upcoming funding calls likely to cover topics specified in the DOE Critical Mineral and Materials Strategy and the FCAB Battery Blueprint. Topics included previous lab wide CMM efforts, new and emerging areas of interest in CMM, and sustaining an LBL vision for CMM.
Note: presentation viewable by LBL staff only. For questions, please email mwhittaker@lbl.gov.
Improved quantification of Li at Lithium Valley
With the growth of the electrical vehicle market and the increasing demand for battery energy storage with the rapid expansion of intermittent renewable energy sources, the need for reliable, abundant, and domestic sources of Li is becoming more critical. One resource that has been identified for decades but has not been commercially exploited to date is Li in geothermal brines. The Salton Sea geothermal field taps into hypersaline (>200,000 ppm TDS) brines with elevated (200-300 ppm) Li concentrations.
March 8-9: National Energy Storage Summit
Exponential energy storage deployment is both expected and needed in the coming decades, enabling our nation’s just transition to a clean, affordable, and resilient energy future.
Registration Link
Agenda
Sizing Up the Challenges in Extracting Lithium from Geothermal Brine
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have recently published a comprehensive review of past and current technologies for extracting minerals from geothermal brine. (Article featuring LBLs Will Stringfellow)
Can Geothermal Energy Solve the Lithium Shortfall?
Lithium might seem like an unlikely object for the limelight, but those steeped in the mineral commodities market are not surprised. The need for lithium has grown exponentially in recent years. It plays a vital role in our high-tech world, particularly with rechargeable lithium batteries, which drive the growing market for portable electronic devices, electric tools, vehicles, and grid storage solutions.
September 22, 2021: Michael Whittaker, LBNL
Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 2 PM PST.
Watch recorded video HERE.