France gets lithium from geothermal brine and maps Paris for heating

In the context of the energy transition, a major challenge for Europe is to secure supplies of strategic metals.

The French Geological Society (BGRM) has announced completion of two projects that should aid in energy transition.

The European project EuGeLi, coordinated by ERAMET and in which BRGM was a partner, aimed to lay the foundations for the establishment of a European lithium production chain that does not emit CO2.

The EuGeLi project ended in December 2021 with production of the first kilograms of battery-grade lithium carbonate from European geothermal water were produced at the Soultz-sous-Forêts site (Bas-Rhin).

The next steps will be to optimise the economic model to evaluate whether it is possible to set up a competitive lithium production scheme for batteries on an industrial scale, as a complement to renewable energy.

The second project involved a mapping project to identify the geothermal heat potential in the Greater Paris area. According to the study, surface geothermal energy could in theory cover more than half of the municipality’s heating/cooling needs, if all buildings had the adequate distribution systems required by heat pumps.