DOE – Funding selections: FY22 AMMTO-GTO lithium extraction and conversion from geothermal brines.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $10.9 million for 10 projects across nine states that will 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.
These projects are being managed in collaboration by EERE’s AMMTO and GTO. The projects add to a portfolio of recent investments such AMMTO’s Critical Materials Institute – an Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames National Laboratory and GTO’s Geothermal Lithium Extraction Prize.
These projects will also further develop a DOE-led innovation ecosystem around lithium production as project participants will be invited to participate in the Lithium RD&D Virtual Center. The Center coordinates investment activity across industry, government, and academia.
The 10 projects were selected from two topic areas:
- Field Validation of Lithium Hydroxide Production from Geothermal Brines: Pilot or demonstration projects to validate cost-effective, innovative lithium extraction and lithium hydroxide conversion technologies.
- Applied Research & Development for Direct Lithium Extraction from Geothermal Brines: Research and development projects to advance emerging direct lithium extraction (DLE) process technologies to increase efficiency, reduce waste generation, and/or reduce cost of DLE.
Funding Selections: FY22 AMMTO-GTO Lithium Extraction and Conversion from Geothermal Brines, July 25, 2023
