Talk and social, Thursday, 17th April, at the RCA, Conwy, LL31 8AN.
Simon Kendal will give a presentation on his recent work on opportunities associated with geothermal energy – in particular, the enhanced returns to be made from the extraction of Rare Earth elements including Lithium. At the end of his talk Simon will also cover an ongoing effort to bring the world of geothermal energy into the classroom, through Minecraft Education.
Abstract:
Over the last 18 months EPDL has been working with an experienced generation of geologists on opportunities associated with geothermal energy and, in particular, the enhanced returns to be made from the extraction of Rare Earth elements including Lithium.
This original work identified areas of high geothermal coupled with lithium brine potential which could be developed in tandem to generate power and harvest the lithium from the oilfield brines in the USA.
The work recognized 6 major horizons across the continental USA meeting the minimal criteria of temperature and lithium concentration which were taken from the database of 113,000 analyses. As part of the study the validity of temperature measurements as well as the reliability and consistency of Lithium contents were examined and outlier data were screened. This ensured a valid set of conclusions although it is possible that some outliers are valid locations, with further analysis required to either include or exclude these locations.
At the end, this talk will also cover an ongoing effort to bring the world of geothermal energy into the classroom where we are aiming to develop an offering educating children through Minecraft Education.