New legislation in California eases way for mineral exploitation from geothermal brine
Hudson Ranch I plant, site of the lithium extraction project, California, U.S. (source: EnergySource)
Alexander Richter
12 Sep 2012
A new legislation will streamline regulation on the extraction of lithium from geothermal brine in California, as planned by a company in the Salton Sea.
A new Geothermal Regulatory streamlining bill has been signed into law in California.
The bill AB2205 was signed last week. As reported locally, “the new law, relating to lithium extraction in geothermal technologies, AB 2205 (Chapter 253, Statutes of 2012) will help spur business creation in new industries tied to geothermal energy. The new law makes a regulatory clarification so that existing regulations applying to geothermal plants also apply to new clean processes that extract beneficial materials from geothermal brine in closed loop systems at these plants. These processes did not exist when the regulatory framework for geothermal energy was developed, resulting in ambiguity that has impeded the build out of this emerging industry.
“This new law helps provide green resources to build out the green economy,” said Pérez. “By supporting new technologies, we can promote business development that taps the related benefits of the geothermal energy that is so abundant in our state, particularly in Imperial County, and keep our state on a path to meet its environmental and economic development goals.”
The law will help a particular project in the Salton Sea that is planning to “mine” lithium from geothermal brine of a geothermal power plant, as reported here before.
Source: Imperial Valley News
