Vulcan Energie secures five important licenses

Lithium is an important resource for the construction of batteries for electric cars. Vulcan Energie is now allowed to extract the metal in the Upper Rhine Graben - using a specially developed CO2-neutral process.

Vulcan Energie has secured an extraction license for geothermal energy and four exploration licenses for geothermal energy production and lithium. The licenses cover 325 square kilometers in the Upper Rhine Graben, a region between Basel and Frankfurt am Main.

Vulcan Energie intends to extract the lithium from the thermal water in the Upper Rhine Graben. According to electrive.net, extraction is set to begin in 2024. To do this, the start-up will pump the hot brine up from underground. The heat is used to generate electricity, and the energy generated in the process can apparently be used to filter the lithium from the thermal water. The water is then fed back into the ground. According to Vulcan Energie, this type of lithium extraction should be CO2-free. Previous methods of extracting the metal, such as mining from rock and evaporation pools, are still very energy-intensive.

Vulcan Energie is the German subsidiary of the Australian listed company Vulcan Energy Resources. In future, the company wants to supply car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Stellantis and Renault with lithium. A feasibility study should be available by the second half of 2022.

"The identification of new areas with potential for geothermal energy generation and CO2-free lithium production in the Upper Rhine Graben is a success of the tireless work of our experts," says Vulcan Energy Managing Director Horst Kreuter electrive.net. "We can now supplement the production capacities covered so far and expand them in the near future."