Yep. Gotta read all the way to the bottom of that article:
This is certainly a compelling development in the very long saga of the Salton Sea. And it’s one of those buzzy topics that I’m sure we’ll hear about a lot over the next year. But still, it’s a long bet to seeing this project bear any fruit, if it even should. The Los Angeles Times makes an interesting case, saying that no company has yet been able to exact lithium from the underground brine, and it’s a costly, complicated endeavor, with the salt alone quickly corroding equipment.
Not to mention the potential political hurdles in making this happen, as well as permitting and costs of getting work crews out to a region with very little infrastructure in place, and surmounting any opposition from mining – although the Salton Sea is likely to be more in the clear in terms of that.I'm pretty certain that technically sufficient lithium exists to create the batteries we'd want. I am equally certain that the pace of developing those deposits will be too slow and too late to meaningfully change the equation. Articles such as these do little to inform about the pace, scale, and cost of the projects before us. For example the article says:
Of course, finding a way to harness and extract the lithium from a geothermal brine at a commercial scale is a daunting task, but a few companies are already working on it and have secured large investments to develop technology.
The California Energy Commission also gave a $6 million grant to Berkshire Hathaway Energy, as well as a $1.46 million grant to Controlled Thermal Resources a few years back to develop extraction techniques.LOL We're talking about needing billions and billions and the article frames a combined $7.46 million (with an "M") as 'secured large investments.' I just can't see it their way....