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San Diego-based EnergySource, which operates the Salton SeaРІР‚в„ўs newest geothermal facility, developed its own extraction technique and expects to start construction on a lithium plant by April 1. Simbol spurned the purchase offer and soon ran out of money.Р”В«ut itРІР‚в„ўs now looking more likely that at least one company will solve the puzzle.Р”В¬ontrolled Thermal has teamed up with well-funded lithium extraction startup Lilac Solutions, whose backers include Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. The secretive startup claimed to have developed a game-changing lithium extraction technology, catching Elon MuskРІР‚в„ўs attention and prompting Tesla to offer $325 million to buy the company in 2014, as later revealed by the Desert Sun newspaper. None of the busts was more dramatic than that of Simbol Materials. Companies have typically been foiled either by poor economics or by the brineРІР‚в„ўs highly corrosive nature. Imperial Valley residents are wary of those kinds of promises, thanks to a long history of developers trying and failing to profit from minerals dissolved in the salty waters deep beneath the Salton Sea (which have no connection to the surface lake). The Imperial Irrigation District, meanwhile, has agreed to buy most of the 50 megawatts of power that Controlled Thermal would initially generate.

But now California is swimming in cheap solar and wind power, and officials are scrambling for clean-energy resources that can be counted on 24/7, especially after sundown.Р”В¬aliforniaРІР‚в„ўs first new geothermal plant in nearly a decade recently started construction in Mono County. The technology is expensive, and for years development had ground to a halt. They take advantage of a natural geothermal hot spot, where heat from the EarthРІР‚в„ўs core radiates outward and warms water trapped in underground rock formations.Р”В®nergy companies drill down and bring the superheated water to the surface, where the drop in pressure causes it to РІР‚СљflashРІР‚Сњ from a liquid to a gas, creating bursts of steam that can turn turbines and generate electricity.Р”Р„t the end of the process, the brine is injected back underground, replenishing the reservoir. There are already 11 geothermal power plants in the area, churning out emissions-free energy for California and Arizona. It will also generate clean electricity around the clock, unlike solar and wind farms that depend on the weather and time of day. If the РІР‚СљHellРІР‚в„ўs KitchenРІР‚Сњ project succeeds - still a big РІР‚СљifРІР‚Сњ - it will be just the second commercial lithium producer in the United States. The developer, Controlled Thermal Resources, began drilling its first lithium and geothermal power production well this month, backed by millions of dollars from investors including General Motors.

The $500-million project is finally getting started after years of hype and headlines about the Imperial Valley someday becoming a powerhouse in the fight against climate change. Instead, an Australian company is preparing to tap a buried reservoir of salty, superheated water to produce renewable energy - and lithium, a crucial ingredient in electric car batteries.

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ThereРІР‚в„ўs no oil or natural gas here, despite a cluster of Halliburton cement tanks and the hum of a generator slowly pushing a drill bit through thousands of feet of underground rock. Barely a mile from the southern shore of the Salton Sea - an accidental lake deep in the California desert, a place best known for dust and decay - a massive drill rig stands sentinel over some of the most closely watched ground in American energy.

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