Science Talks: Electric potential: Extracting lithium from waste in Alberta

By 2030, a nearly ten-fold increase in lithium demand is expected, driven by the electric vehicle market and coming needs for renewable energy storage — and Alberta could be a major player in this growing market. Home to a significant portion of the world’s lithium supply, Alberta has the potential to capitalize on this opportunity to use existing oil and gas infrastructure for a new purpose, diversifying our economy and creating new jobs. While the potential resource is vast, scientists at the University of Alberta are looking for ways to make Alberta’s lithium supply available for commercial use.

Join geochemist Daniel Alessi, associate professor and Encana Chair in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, for the next installment of the Science Talks Webinar Series as he discusses promising technologies to extract lithium from brines. Learn about the challenges we face in scaling up the process to commercial production and a preliminary economic analysis of the process if deployed in Alberta.