Warren Buffett Gathers His Energy Gang To Extract Lithium
Occidental Petroleum and Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables agreed to test and deploy technology to extracting lithium from geothermal brine. Geothermal brine is the hot salty water pumped to the surface of the earth and used to produce electricity.
Under the joint venture, the technology from TerraLithium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental, is being tested at BHE Renewables' Imperial Valley geothermal facility. Testing aims to determine whether it can produce lithium in an "environmentally safe manner."
BHE Renewables operates 10 geothermal power plants in California's Imperial Valley generating 345 megawatts of clean energy. These facilities process 50,000 gallons of "lithium-rich brine" per minute, according to the company.
If the test is successful, Buffett's BHE Renewables plans to build commercial lithium production facilities in California's Imperial Valley, the company reported Tuesday. There are also plans to expand beyond the Imperial Valley under the joint Occidental-BHE Renewables venture.
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