Germany has enough lithium for several decades, says study
Germany has sufficient lithium reserves to meet its own needs for several decades if it uses deep-water sources, estimates Fraunhofer IEG.
There is up to 26.51Mt of lithium in German subsoil, predicts the research institute.
The Li+Fluid project examined the North German plain, where lithium levels of up to 66mg/l have been detected in fluids, especially water from Rotliegend sandstones, the Zechstein carbonate and the Bunter sandstone.
Due to the region's long history of natural gas exploitation, the team says there are many former and active boreholes, which allow easy access to deep layers.
The project also examined the Thuringian Basin and created profiles with data on potential lithium extraction from hydrothermal fluids.
The researchers have found the rock formations have 0.39-26.51Mt of lithium dissolved in deep water, enough to meet Germany's needs for several decades.
This is based on information from the German Raw Materials Agency, which estimates Germany's lithium demand at up to 0.17Mt in 2030.
Katharina Alms, Project Manager at Fraunhofer IEG, says 'In order to increase the economic efficiency of lithium extraction, we also investigated the combination with geothermal plants: the lithium dissolved in the fluid could be separated from the extracted hot deep water in a side process.'
Operators could use the hot water to heat buildings, for production or to generate electricity. The cooler and depleted fluid would be pumped back to the subsurface.
For the joint economic operation of geothermal plant and lithium separation, certain criteria must be met, notes the team, such as a sufficiently high flow-rate in the subsoil.
They cite the case of Munster in Lower Saxony, where the municipal utility is upgrading an old natural gas well, and the energy provider wants to supply the first of 4,000 households with district heating from 2026 at the latest. Simultaneously, it plans to extract up to 500t of lithium per year from the plant.
More like this...
