Phase 1 semifinalists for geothermal lithium extraction prize
Geothermal Lithium Extraction Prize banner (Source: American-Made Challenges website)
Carlo Cariaga
5 Nov 2021
Phase 1 semifinalists are moving on the "Design and Invent" phase of developing technologies for cost-effective recovery of lithium from geothermal brine
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the Phase 1 semifinalists of the American-Made Geothermal Lithium Extraction Prize. This is a US$4-million competition that aims to fast-track innovations for technologies that support direct lithium extraction from geothermal brine.
The Phase 1 semifinalists are:
- Boston University – Pober-Strauss
- George Washington University – Ellexco
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Lithium from Home
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Nanoporous Graphene Membrane
- Oregon State University – Espiku
- Rice University – LiSED
- Texas Tech University – Tech Desal
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – SelectPureLi
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth – Lirix-nano Sengupta
- University of Miami – Miami Solution
- University of Texas at Austin – Freeman Lab
- University of Utah – University of Utah
- University of Virginia – Team TELEPORT
- University of Wyoming – Bruce Parkinson’s Team
- University of Wyoming – Team Goldilocks
Phase 2 of the competition – “Design and Invent” – will kick off this week. The Phase 1 semifinalists will have to come up with designs for their proposals in preparation for actual fabrication and testing in Phase 3.
Lithium is a critical material used in manufacturing high-density batteries for electric vehicles and grid-scale electricity storage. Although it’s an essential part of the clean energy supply chain, most of the lithium stock used in the US has to be imported. The Lithium Prize competition seeks to develop technologies that will help secure safe and cost-competitive local sources of lithium.
Geothermal brines have long been recognized as a potential source of domestic lithium. The Salton Sea region in California alone can supply enough lithium to exceed the current annual US demand. Although brine is merely a byproduct of geothermal power plants, the challenge has been to come up with cost-effective ways of recovering lithium from brine.
The American-Made Geothermal Prize is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and funded by the Geothermal Technologies Office.
Source: Department of Energy
