The video discusses the shift from fossil fuels to sustainable electric power, particularly in the automotive industry. Major car companies are aggressively working to develop electric vehicles, which are powered by lithium batteries. The United States holds considerable lithium reserves, though investments in mining and extraction have been sluggish until now. This is changing as "Lithium Valley" emerges in the Salton Sea region, igniting a modern-day "gold rush" similar to that of 1849, with companies racing to capitalize on the lithium-rich geothermal field.

The Salton Sea's potential lithium production could significantly impact the US auto industry, powering millions of electric vehicles. Companies like Stellantis are investing billions into this green technological revolution, reimagining their factories to accommodate a shift to electric vehicles. The extraction process in Lithium Valley is expected to be the cleanest and most efficient globally, tapping into the vast underground geothermal brine, while the region was previously underdeveloped and economically stressed, it now holds promise for transformation.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. mainstream [ˈmeɪnˌstriːm] - (adjective) - Ideas, activities, or products that are regarded as conventional or dominant in a society. - Synonyms: (conventional, prevalent, common)

The transition from fossil fuels to sustainable electric power has gone mainstream, most visibly in the auto industry.

2. ambitious [æmˈbɪʃəs] - (adjective) - Having a desire to achieve a particular goal and willing to work hard to achieve it. - Synonyms: (aspiring, determined, driven)

The major car companies are chasing Tesla with ambitious plans for fleets of electric vehicles.

3. geothermal [ˌdʒiːoʊˈθɜːrməl] - (adjective) - Relating to or produced by the internal heat of the earth. - Synonyms: (geothermal energy, earth-heated, geothermic)

Spreading east from the sea is a giant underground, mineral rich geothermal field boiling with potassium, sodium, and lithium.

4. era [ˈɛrə] - (noun) - A period of time marked by distinct events or characteristics. - Synonyms: (period, age, epoch)

We're moving into an era of green technology, especially with our cars.

5. revolution [ˌrɛvəˈluːʃn] - (noun) - A dramatic and wide-reaching change in conditions, attitudes, or operation. - Synonyms: (transformation, reform, changeover)

It really is, quote, unquote, the industrial revolution, the next phase, right.

6. renewables [rɪˈnuːəblz] - (noun) - Sources of energy that are not depleted when used, such as wind or solar power. - Synonyms: (sustainable energy, green energy, alternative energy)

Warren Buffett's BHe renewables runs ten geothermal power plants in the region.

7. turbine [ˈtɜːrbaɪn] - (noun) - A machine for producing continuous power by rotation, driven by a fluid or air. - Synonyms: (engine, rotor, generator)

The boiling brine produces clean steam, which drives turbines to generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

8. evaporated [ɪˈvæpəˌreɪtɪd] - (verb) - The process of turning from liquid into vapor. - Synonyms: (vaporized, condensed, dissipated)

But extracting lithium is dirty business. Most comes from rock mines in Australia or as powder evaporated from mineral ponds in South America.

9. catalyst [ˈkætəlɪst] - (noun) - A person or thing that precipitates an event or change. - Synonyms: (stimulus, impetus, spark)

Eric Spomer of EnergySource told us that tax benefits have also been a catalyst for developing domestic lithium.

10. overseas [ˌoʊvərˈsiːz] - (adverb / adjective) - In or to a foreign country, especially one across the sea. - Synonyms: (abroad, internationally, foreign)

The companies were stung when the pandemic disrupted the worldwide supply chain, stalling shipments of microchips, parts, and batteries.

Californias Lithium Valley could power electric vehicle industry - 60 Minutes

The transition from fossil fuels to sustainable electric power has gone mainstream, most visibly in the auto industry. The major car companies are chasing Tesla with ambitious plans for fleets of electric vehicles. Those cars and trucks run on lithium batteries. The US has massive quantities of lithium, but has been slow to invest in the mining and extraction of the metal thats about to change. Lithium operations powered by clean energy are being developed in a long neglected, impoverished part of California by the Salton Sea, not far from the mexican border. The region is being called Lithium Valley. And just like the 1849 gold rush, companies are racing to strike it rich.

East of San Diego and south of Palm Springs lies the Salton Sea, California's largest inland body of water. Spreading east from the sea is a giant underground, mineral rich geothermal field boiling with potassium, sodium, and lithium. It is a world class lithium resource. This is when you hear estimates of how big this resource could be. It's usually measured on annual tons produced, and we're confident that this is in excess of 300,000 tons a year. Right now, that's way more than half of the world supply of lithium. Eric Spomer is CEO of Energy Source Minerals, a company based by the Salton Sea in California's Imperial Valley. It's steaming ahead with plans to recover lithium using an existing electric plant powered by the vast underground geothermal field.

We're moving into an era of green technology, especially with our cars. Where does this fit in? Our more conservative projection would support seven and a half million electric vehicles a year, which is half of the total us car sales, or cars and trucks coming from the Salton Sea area. Correct. What about this plant? This plant will be 20,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to about 500,000 vehicles per year. Once up and running, the tons of lithium generated here will be shipped, refined, and processed into millions of rechargeable electric car batteries.

Mark Stewart is head of Stellantis North America, a global carmaker that owns some of America's best known brands, including Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram Trucks. It really is, quote, unquote, the industrial revolution, the next phase, right. This is the most interesting and exciting time to be a part of our industry. Stellantis is investing $35 billion in an ambitious historic transformation. We're reimagining our factories and our assembly plants. They're already rolling our plug in hybrids, as well as looking to two new battery joint ventures that are in full construction. Right now, the new industrial revolution. It absolutely is. It's really the biggest technological changes in our industry in nearly 100 years.

We were down in the Salton Sea region. They believe they can supply the lithium needs for all american car manufacturers. Absolutely, that is the case. Whatever they can produce, you guys will be buying it. We for sure will take as much as we can get and as much as we have already secured early. Lithium is key to powering electric cars. The dense metal helps make batteries rechargeable. Theres a lot of it around. But extracting lithium is dirty business. Most comes from rock mines in Australia or as powder evaporated from mineral ponds in South America.

The US has one lithium evaporation plant in Nevada. Energysource plans to break ground on a clean billion dollar facility here by the Salton Sea in the next few months. So the plant will fit in this spot right here? Correct. That spot, that's not a big footprint. No. What are these? We call them the mud pots, and they are CO2 vents, hot CO2 with fluid that's bubbling to the surface. So this is evidence of the heat and activity going on underground? Correct. The 600 degree geothermal brine that powers the region's electric plants comes from more than a mile beneath the earth.

The boiling brine produces clean steam, which drives turbines to generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. In the past, the mineral rich brine was simply returned to the earth. Now, energy source plans to extend the process and extract lithium from the brine before re injecting it underground. Our process, in combination with this resource, will be the cleanest, most efficient lithium process in the world. And how long before the lithium processed here will be in commercial use in the US in 2025?

A lot of the components that go into the batteries have been coming from anywhere around the world but America. Why was that? We have a lot of decent resources in North America. They've just been undeveloped. David Deke worked for Tesla, traveling the world to find the best sources of lithium. As it was building up production of its electric vehicles, or EV's, Tesla turned to the lithium ion battery to power its cars. The same kind of rechargeable battery Sony first mass produced for its camcorders. There was a new market for consumer electronics, but the vast majority is for electric vehicles. And that was pretty much triggered by Tesla. Triggered by Tesla also, you know, there's a lot of EV growth and EV demand and production in China.

That's been a big part of. Big part of the global lithium demand story. Come on in, Deke is now energy sources chief development officer and says he had a eureka moment when he saw its unique technology. At the company's lab, Dieck showed us the mechanics in miniature. The full size plant will be 100 times larger. So what goes on inside this cylinder? Is it pellets, or what is the Matrix? Yeah, I think of it as beads in a column, much like the activated carbon that you would find in a Brita filter. It works in a similar concept. A Brita filter will filter all impurities out of water. This orbent is something that would only take in lithium and not absorb everything else.

The system takes just a few hours to turn this orange brine into this clear lithium solution, which will be dried into powder. And this is what everybody's looking for. That's what everyone wants here by the Salton Sea, energy source is leading the race for lithium. Warren Buffett's BHe renewables runs ten geothermal power plants in the region. And there's another on the drawing board by an australian company, controlled thermal resources.

Both ventures are moving to tap the promise bubbling under the earth. CEO Rod Colwell told us controlled thermal resources had been fine tuning the process at this test facility for 90 days. We're producing lithium from live brine here behind us. This is our optimization plant. Based on what it learns here, controlled thermal resources plans to build a new plant for recovering lithium, which costs about $4,000 a ton to extract and currently is selling for six times more.

The noise is from the machines, cooling. 600 degree brine rising from the well, releasing steam. This is a battery grade product from Salton Sea brine. This, for you, is Eureka. This is absolutely Eureka. Yes. Rod Colwell told us this bottle of clear lithium chloride is the purest product from this test facility so far. This is the first time this has been in my hands. This happened last night. Bill. Satan. I might take that home with me. That's about $10 worth of lithium right there.

So you know it works. We know it works. The question here in the Salton Sea basin is, will it work for everyone? This rich lithium resource lies beneath one of the poorest sections of California. The Salton Sea was created when the Colorado river flooded the basin in 1905. But for the past 50 years, the main source of water has been chemical laden agricultural runoff. And for decades now, the sea has been evaporating and shrinking.

A once thriving tourist industry has been replaced by environmental decay, toxic dust, and economic hardship. And with unemployment in the region hovering around 16%, there's a lot riding on turning the imperial valley into Lithium Valley. Governor Newsom called it, you know, the Saudi Arabia of lithium. I think, you know, it can change the landscape of the region. Frank Ruiz, the Audubon Society's local program director, is fighting to include the community in that change. He was a commissioner on the state panel, studying how the entire region can benefit from the potential underground.

You're an environmentalist. How do you reconcile the industrialization of this area with saving the wildlife and the communities? We need to learn how to balance the tables. The lithium industry can be really good, you know, for these communities. It can provide better pay jobs. It can provide more job opportunities, especially for the younger folks. It can provide the revenues, you know, to offset the challenges that we have here at the Salton Sea.

Geologists predict once the industry is fully operational, the lithium underground should last for generations before running out. Good news for Stellantis, which ran out of batteries for its plug in hybrid jeep Wrangler last year. We sold out. What happened? If I could turn back my crystal ball bill, I would have secured a little more capacity for last year. To prevent that from happening in the future, Mark Stewart and Stellantis have committed to buying lithium from controlled thermal resources at the Salton Sea, knowing it will be years before its product is commercially viable.

We secured a large supply from them over a ten year period because we are very positive on their technology. So is carmaker General Motors, which has invested in controlled thermal resources. The Department of Energy and us automakers are eager for domestic lithium. The companies were stung when the pandemic disrupted the worldwide supply chain, stalling shipments of microchips, parts, and batteries. Still today, three quarters of all lithium batteries are processed in Asia.

Current lithium, what typically happens, it's mined in one spot, it's moved across the world for processing, and comes back. Think of all that additional cost. Think of all that additional carbon that's being used to do that. And at the end, someone pays for it, and that's a consumer. So will having this domestic supply of lithium help keep the cost of electric vehicles down? It will certainly help. Prices for electric cars are coming down and are projected to be on par with gas vehicles within a few years, driven in part by the tax incentives in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Eric Spomer of EnergySource told us that tax benefits have also been a catalyst for developing domestic lithium. We're starting to see big announcements of investments to create that domestic demand so it doesn't ever have to go across an ocean. This seems like this is a game changer for american industry. It's a competitive advantage. It's an opportunity that we can be a leader globally.

And why not lead?

Technology, Innovation, Economics, Environmental Impact, Green Technology, Lithium Valley, 60 Minutes