This Toxic, Drying U.S. Lake Could Turn Into the ‘Saudi Arabia of Lithium’ | WSJ

The region surrounding California’s toxic Salton Sea is a treasure trove of lithium – a critical ingredient for powering the country’s clean energy future. The estimated 18 million metric tons of lithium suspended in hot geothermal brine is enough to power more than 375 million EV batteries. So what kinds of new tech are companies using to get to this lithium despite the corrosive conditions? WSJ takes you behind the scenes to understand how companies are building entirely new ways to extract lithium from the area and what it means for the future of domestic lithium production. Chapters 0:00 Salton Sea 1:10 Extracting the lithium 4:15 Why it’s so challenging 5:19 Community and environmental concerns 8:28 What’s next? News Explainers Some days the high-speed news cycle can bring more questions than answers. WSJ’s news explainers break down the day’s biggest stories into bite-size pieces to help you make sense of the news. #EV #Lithium #WSJ