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At the beginning of the year, the UnLimited research team started the first series of tests for lithium extraction at the Bruchsal site. Initially, a manganese-based adsorbent is being tested, which has already shown promising performance in the KIT laboratory tests.

DERA has published the results of its updated raw material risk assessment for lithium in a study. According to the study, demand for the raw material could increase by a factor of four to eight by 2030, while at the same time a massive supply deficit could arise.

Sorption and ion exchange have been examined as suitable direct lithium extraction (DLE) techniques. For the DLE technique, sorbents are needed that selectively bind lithium. Commercially available sorbents, however, have advantages and disadvantages in different processing lines and in dependence on the physicochemical parameters during extraction. In the joint UnLimited project, different sorbents beyond Mn-oxide are tested at lab scale, i.e., zeolite and Li-Fe-phosphate.

In the past weeks, the first interviews with stakeholders from industry, environmental associations and licensing authorities took place. The meetings were initiated by the UnLimited partner HYDROSION. The project partner provided information about the project and the current project status with the aim of demonstrating the regional opportunities of domestic lithium production from deep geothermal brines.

At the end of the year, the members of the two BMWK-funded research projects Li+Fluids and UnLimited met for an online expert discussion. The event focused on the presentation of the current activities of the individual partners and an outlook for the coming year 2023.

This year's annual event "Lithium Days" of the German Lithium Institute ITEL (Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium) was held in Leipzig from December 5 to 7. Besides numerous representatives from science, industry and politics, the two project partners EnBW and KIT of the research project UnLimited were also involved in the event.

The construction of the Unlimited pilot plant for the extraction of lithium has been successfully completed. The work was carried out under the leadership of KIT in cooperation with the collaborative partners. The demonstrator is currently located at the Bruchsal test site.

The International Lithium Association (ILiA) is the global trade association for the lithium industry and represents the entire lithium value chain. The Association was established in 2021 as an international not-for-profit industry association run by and for its members.

Pumping up thermal water, separating lithium, and using it to produce batteries for electric mobility – the idea of lithium as an environmentally compatible and regionally available by-product of geothermal energy plants appears highly promising. However, it has not been clear so far whether domestic lithium extraction is really worthwhile. A team of researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has now summarized the state of the art, analyzed raw materials markets, and assessed technologies. According to them, it might be possible in theory to extract thousands of tons of lithium every year in Germany, but crucial aspects still need to be clarified.

Together with the French start-up GEOLITH, EnBW succeeded in extracting lithium from the Bruchsal brine for the first time - although on a smaller scale.