Will French-green lithium soon be used in car batteries?
This page is translated from the original post "Bientôt du lithium français vert dans les batteries de voitures ?" in French.
- 26/01/2022 7:00
The Alsatian geothermal lithium project has extracted its first kilograms and hopes to move to the industrial stage to supply the automotive sector.
Although electric cars are less polluting than combustion engine vehicles over their lifecycle, they still face some issues. The main black spot is the battery, whose materials come from afar. Among them, lithium is an environmental and strategic challenge, but things are starting to change.
A green lithium, generating electricity
We are not yet at a 100% French electric car battery. However, a extraction plant has just been inaugurated after three years of design, through the EuGeLi project (European Geothermal Lithium). The Soultz-sous-Forêts site (Bas-Rhin) has produced its first kilograms of lithium, according to an official statement.
But this place has nothing in common with sites causing environmental, water, or social issues, like in Chile or China. Here, lithium is derived from geothermal brine. This means the metal is filtered from underground waters containing more than 90 mg/L. These waters are warm, coming from deep layers, and thus generate electricity (geothermal energy).
The environmental footprint of Alsace lithium is thus very low, since the geothermal resource is also used for electricity, considered green. A plus for electric mobility!
A sector to develop for electric cars
Of course, these few kilos of lithium are not enough for an electric vehicle. But the success of this project allows moving to a new stage. The goal is to reach an industrial scale to supply a local battery manufacturing plant, based on a French source with very low CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, the project’s partners, Eramet and BRGM, do not provide a specific timeline.
In France, projects for electric car battery factories are multiplying. Renault electric cars will rely on the Douai site with Envision AESC and Verkor in 2024, while Stellantis will use the ACC site in Douvrin starting in 2023. Let’s also remember that Germany, which shares a border not so far away, has about a dozen factories in preparation.
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