The public is invited to participate in a Lithium Valley Commission Community Forum which will be held online and in person on November 17 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
It’s an opportunity to connect with members of the state’s Lithium Valley Commission, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and California Energy Commission (CEC) staff and state leaders and learn about opportunities and challenges to lithium recovery from geothermal brine in the Salton Sea region.
Lithium is a critical resource to enable the transition to a clean energy economy. It is a crucial component of the batteries needed for electric vehicles and grid electricity storage. Demand of lithium is projected to increase significantly in the next decade, driven by increasing global need for batteries.
Today, 95 percent of all lithium is produced in just four countries: Australia, Chile, China and Argentina. The lithium resource in Imperial County, if extracted from geothermal brine, could generate a substantial in-state supply of lithium with the potential to meet more than one-third of global lithium demand according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2020.
Assembly Bill 1657 (Garcia – D, Coachella) authorized the CEC to convene a Blue-Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction in California, referred to as the Lithium Valley Commission. The Lithium Valley Commission is charged with reviewing, investigating, and analyzing certain issues and potential incentives, as detailed in the statute, regarding lithium extraction and use in California.
Additionally, the Lithium Valley Commission is required to submit a report to the California Legislature documenting its findings and recommendations on or before October 1, 2022. More information about the Lithium Valley Commission can be found on the CEC’s Lithium Valley Commission webpage at www.energy.ca.gov/LithiumValleyCommission.
Use the following Zoom link to access the virtual meeting:
https://energy.zoom.us/j/93655457881?pwd=RTF3TlpaTmJQU09PRG5rM1I1ZTdJUT09
Meeting ID: 936 5545 7881
Meeting Password: LITHIUM
Call in is available at (877) 853-5257 or (213) 338-8477.
