Spring Luncheon
"Green Energy and White Gold in California"
Wilfred Elders, Professor Emeritus of Geology, UCR
Friday, May 19, 2023 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Presentation delivered in-person at the UCR Alumni & Visitors Center, $25 per person
The use of alternative energy must grow in California as the State has a mandate to eliminate the use of hydrocarbon fuels that produce “greenhouse” gases which exacerbate global warming. Fortunately, California is a world leader in producing electricity using the Earth’s natural heat to make steam for turbines that drive electrical generators, and there are still large undeveloped known geothermal resources within the state. The Department of Earth Sciences at UCR began a Geothermal Resources Program in the 1970’s which focused primarily on discovering and evaluating geothermal resources in the Imperial Valley. Today we are witnessing the rapid growth of a major new industry at the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF), which, in addition to bringing online new electrical generation, will have as its main focus the extraction of Lithium from the concentrated brines produced from geothermal wells drilled in the SSGF. Today Lithium is in great demand for the manufacture of the rechargeable, light-weight batteries necessary for electric vehicles. Some estimates of the potential revenues of fully integrated lithium production and battery manufacture at the SSGF range up to $80 billion a year. We are witnesses at the birth of a “white gold rush”!
How to Register
Register by May 10, 2023 on the UCR Retirement Center webpage.