California's Lithium Industry Booms with Electric Vehicle Demand.
California's Lithium Valley is developing clean energy-powered lithium operations to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles. EnergySource Minerals is building a billion-dollar facility to extract lithium from geothermal brine, which could support 7.5 million electric vehicles a year. The region could recover enough lithium to supply half of the total car and truck sales in the US. Other companies, including Warren Buffett's BHE Renewables and Controlled Thermal Resources, are also investing in the lithium rush. However, the industry must balance industrialization with environmental and community concerns in one of California's poorest regions.
