The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the selection of 10 geothermal lithium projects that will benefit from the total funding of USD 10.9 million that was originally announced in November 2022.
The 10 projects across nine states aim to advance innovative technologies to extract and convert battery-grade lithium from geothermal brine sources in the United States. This work will increase America’s access to cost-effective, domestic sources of this critical material needed for batteries for stationary storage and electric vehicles to meet the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of 50% electric vehicle adoption by 2030 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
Currently, the United States has limited capabilities to produce and refine domestically sourced lithium. Direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines represents an opportunity to domestically produce lithium hydroxide - the form of lithium used for advanced batteries - in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.