If a battery is a store of energy, then the Salton Sea and Lithium Valley are both excellent candidates for this blog. That’s because between them they are a source of renewable energy, and a critical material we can use to store it. We find these naturally resource-rich areas in the Imperial Valley area of Southern California.
The Salton Sea and Its Immense Lithium Resources
The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline lake, with an elevation of 236 feet below sea level, and measuring some 15 by 35 miles. The Colorado river once occasionally flooded this natural depression, until the river diverted completely, and the lake dried up.
Authorities dug an irrigation canal from the Colorado River, to bring water to the Imperial Valley for farming, at the beginning of the 19th Century. This canal burst during spring rains, and refilled the ancient lake before the waterway could be repaired.
The Lithium Valley area is a natural site for generating renewable geothermal electricity. However, the volcanic activity below also loosens up huge lithium-reserves for electric vehicle batteries in the brine reservoir. This natural synergy between the Salton Sea and Lithium Valley has huge commercial potential.
The Salton Sea contains roughly one third of the global supply of lithium carbonate. This suggests that there might be sufficient reserves to make North America lithium self-sufficient, and with the the greenest version of the raw material available too.
Lithium Valley and Imperial Valley’s Salton Buttes
Lithium Valley, and its series of small, flat-topped remnants of old lava domes, is an ideal place to access geothermal activity. Two of these features connect through to ancient volcanoes, that represent infinite renewable energy.
Dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle power stations generate electricity from geothermal heat. Their emissions are 95% lower than conventional fossil-fuel power stations. The Salton Sea and Lithium Valley resources both have immense potential, which is only now receiving renewed interest.
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Geothermal Energy Makes Its Mark
