Startup to Capture Lithium from Geothermal Power Plants

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

A startup company called Simbol Materials believes it can increase the domestic (U.S) production of lithium by capturing it, in addition to zinc and manganese, from the brine used by geothermal power plants.

The brine mentioned is actually a very hot fluid that is pumped from a hot area deep in the earth’s crust, and the heat it contains is used to boil water to produce steam.

A geothermal power plant is a form of steam power plant (although it doesn’t have to be steam-powered).

Demand for lithium is expected to increase due to increasing demand for portable electronics, such as laptops, cell phones, and iPads, and more, as well as anticipated increases in hybrid and electric vehicle demand.

You may be concerned when you find that elemental lithium is rare, but please note that is not where the lithium for li-ion batteries is obtained. It is extracted from non-elemental lithium compounds (not pure lithium), such as lithium carbonate, lithium brine, hectorite clay, lithium hydroxide, and other sources.

In the 1990’s, the U.S produced 75% of the world’s lithium carbonate, and now it produces only 5% of it. This is partially due to the fact that the U.S does not produce it as cheaply as Chile does. And this could be due to multiple reasons, one of them being low wages. Wages and salaries are an important part of the cost of production, and in some economies, such as the Chinese and Chilean ones, workers are sometimes paid extremely low wages,.. an unfortunate way to lower the cost of products.

Mining, in general, has at least some environmental impact, but due to the fact that geothermal power plants pump lithium containing fluid up from underground anyway, it is an environmentally (and possibly economically) wise idea to obtain lithium, manganese, and zinc from that fluid, as it reduces the need for mining.

Another idea is to cut the cost of both geothermal power (in areas where it would normally be too expensive) and lithium by also using the power plant as a lithium production facility, so the money invested in the plant could also be stretched to facilitate lithium, manganese, and zinc production.

Who knows what’s next — someone may even use the wasted heat from geothermal steam engines to heat water.

h/t: Technology Review | Photo Credit: Simbol Materials

Related Stories:

  1. Geothermal Energy Could Power Entire U.S. (Maybe)
  2. Geothermal Plant Supplies ~20% of Hawaii’s Electricity
  3. Ormat Supplies Recovered Energy Generation To DOE Oilfield Geothermal Test

Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

CleanTechnica Holiday Wish Book

Holiday Wish Book Cover

Click to download.


Our Latest EVObsession Video


I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it!! So, we've decided to completely nix paywalls here at CleanTechnica. But...
 
Like other media companies, we need reader support! If you support us, please chip in a bit monthly to help our team write, edit, and publish 15 cleantech stories a day!
 
Thank you!

Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

Nicholas Brown

Has a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, and geography. His website is: Kompulsa.com.

Nicholas Brown has 594 posts and counting. See all posts by Nicholas Brown

3 thoughts on “Startup to Capture Lithium from Geothermal Power Plants

  • Well, there’s not going to be a large demand for hot water around the Salton Sea where these geothermal operations are located, but there might be value in the water.

    If the filtration process used sufficiently cleans up the water it might be very useful for agriculture in this very sunny, and dry, part of the world.

    In other parts of the world, where it’s colder, geothermal waste water is quite useful for greenhouse heating. Just run it through tubes buried in the soil before returning it to the geothermal well.

    And it can be useful for building heating. Geothermal is likely to become very useful in far northern climates where their is a need for both electricity and a cheap heat source for residences and commercial buildings. Double use from a single well.

  • Pingback: Imperial Valley’s Unique Combination of Solar and Geothermal Resources Make it a Hotbed of Renewable Energy Activity, and Controversy

Comments are closed.