The southeast tip of California’s Salton Sea is home to 11 geothermal power plants that turn hot volcanic brine into clean electricity.Getty Images
The Salton Sea region has one of the world’s largest known reserves of lithium, enough to power batteries for more than 50 million electric vehicles within a few years. But first it must be extracted from hot geothermal brine loaded with toxic material, a process that’s never been done before at scale.
Wander the unpaved, dusty, rural roads southeast of California’s troubled Salton Sea on a baking, 112-degree Fahrenheit August afternoon and two things soon stand out. Improbably, this desert-adjacent part of the Golden State is a productive agricultural region loaded with alfalfa and hay fields, made possible by the All American Canal bringing in Colorado River water. The stark landscape is also dotted with rusty,…