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Synthesis and Conclusions Photo © Bryant Olsen, cropped version used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) license. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the United States will need to shift away from fossil fuels as the major energy source. Lithium-powered batteries are the most economical source for storing energy at multiple scales (e.g., cell phones, vehicles, industrial power plants). Currently, nearly all lithium is produced outside the U.S., which has only one operating lithium extraction site. However, there are documented lithium resources in nine states, which have the potential to produce over 100 years of the current global lithium demand. Of these states, Nevada has the largest lithium resources, followed by California and North Carolina. There is also interest in locally produced lithium, which would provide sources closer to the end-product and has the potential to streamline the battery supply chain and reduce international shipping. Additionally, current lithium production occurs in several developing countries with less restrictive environmental regulations than the U.S. Producing lithium in the U.S. may help protect important conservation areas in other countries and shift the environmental impacts closer to communities benefiting from the lithium batteries. There are two dominant forms of lithium resources, brines and hard rock/clays, and three main types of extraction processes: direct lithium extraction (DLE from brine, evaporative concentration of brine, and surface mining. The science of extraction techniques is rapidly evolving as global lithium demand increases along with electric vehicle adoption. Proven extraction techniques such as surface mining and evaporation ponds require significant land area (hundreds if not thousands of acres depending on the project) for the extraction process and typically result in the complete removal of native vegetation. DLE, which is still in development for commercial applications, would require fewer acres of land (perhaps tens of acres at a given site) for the extraction process. DLE could also be combined with existing infrastructure such as geothermal plants, oil and gas facilities, or other extractive facilities that pump and process brine and have already disturbed the land surface. From an environmental perspective, extracting lithium on disturbed sites is preferable to disturbing new lands. Understanding the conservation impacts of lithium extraction at any particular site would require an in- depth assessment of the operation plan, which is outside the scope of this report. This report does however provide a guide to the potential impacts of lithium extraction based on extraction technology, and a high- level, area-by-area assessment of each documented lithium mining claim and its potential site impacts on habitat and wildlife. Following these seven guidelines will help minimize the environmental impacts of lithium extraction: 1. Prioritize projects that avoid or minimize impacts on species or ecosystems. Any federal or state incentives should only reward or be offered to the least impactful extraction approaches. 2. Prioritize projects that use direct lithium extraction from brine. Analyze connectivity between lithium-containing underground brines and other groundwater or surface waters. Based on findings of the analysis, require implementation of adequate environmental oversight and triggers to prevent ecological harm and groundwater depletion. In the arid west, triggers should be based on modeling given the long lag time between water extraction and natural recharge. Potential Lithium Extraction in the United States: Environmental, Economic, and Policy Implications 69 AUGUST 2022PDF Image | Potential Lithium Extraction in the United States
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Product and Development Focus for Infinity Turbine
ORC Waste Heat Turbine and ORC System Build Plans: All turbine plans are $10,000 each. This allows you to build a system and then consider licensing for production after you have completed and tested a unit.Redox Flow Battery Technology: With the advent of the new USA tax credits for producing and selling batteries ($35/kW) we are focussing on a simple flow battery using shipping containers as the modular electrolyte storage units with tax credits up to $140,000 per system. Our main focus is on the salt battery. This battery can be used for both thermal and electrical storage applications. We call it the Cogeneration Battery or Cogen Battery. One project is converting salt (brine) based water conditioners to simultaneously produce power. In addition, there are many opportunities to extract Lithium from brine (salt lakes, groundwater, and producer water).Salt water or brine are huge sources for lithium. Most of the worlds lithium is acquired from a brine source. It's even in seawater in a low concentration. Brine is also a byproduct of huge powerplants, which can now use that as an electrolyte and a huge flow battery (which allows storage at the source).We welcome any business and equipment inquiries, as well as licensing our turbines for manufacturing.CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@infinityturbine.com (Standard Web Page)