📋 Tender Overview
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) questioned witnesses during a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the groundbreaking potential of the Salton Sea’s lithium resources to accelerate domestic production of electric vehicle batteries. This discovery could significantly bolster U.S. domestic lithium supply, opening up new opportunities for investments in California and representing a major step toward reaching the Biden Administration’s goal of ensuring half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 are zero-emission vehicles. During the hearing, Padilla questioned Mr. David M. Turk, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE), and Mr. Adewale O. Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Treasury.
During his questioning, Padilla highlighted the recently announced comprehensive DOE analysis of the Salton Sea’s lithium production capacity, conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which found that the Salton Sea’s regional total resources could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough to support over 375 million batteries for electric vehicles.
Mr. Turk noted that the Salton Sea lithium supply alone could provide batteries for more electric vehicles than there are total vehicles on U.S. roads today. He thanked Padilla for his partnership and said the DOE is working to lower costs of brining technology and bolster the lithium supply chain to provide crucial economic and decarbonization benefits.
Padilla also asked Mr. Turk about the importance of incentivizing research and development of geothermal energy to generate reliably clean power, lithium, and minerals like zinc. Mr. Turk discussed the potential for geothermal energy, including enhanced geothermal energy, to bolster renewable energy supply and slash carbon emissions.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently named the Lithium Valley Recompete Plan in Imperial County as a finalist in the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program. This makes the Lithium Valley Recompete Plan eligible to apply for $20 to $50 million in funding to transition regional businesses and the workforce into a technology and innovation-based economy centered on the lithium industry. The Lithium Valley Clean Tech Strategy Development Consortium, led by the University of California Riverside, was also recently awarded EDA’s Tech Hubs Strategy Development Grant to build regional capacity and implement direct lithium extraction from regional lithium brine deposits.
Padilla is committed to securing the investments needed to leverage this domestic lithium supply as we work to meet our zero-emission targets.
