SEEMS THERE’S ALWAYS A ‘BUT’
Unlike most farming regions targeted by solar or wind developers, Imperial’s got another renewable energy trick up its sleeve.
Or rather, deep beneath its surface.
Thousands of feet below the ground at the edge of the Salton Sea, salty water trapped in fractured rock formations is warmed to spectacular temperatures by heat from the Earth’s core. For decades, companies have drilled down into the reservoir, bringing up steam strong enough to turn turbines and generate geothermal electricity.
It’s climate-friendly and pollution-free — and there’s a lot more of it yet to be tapped.
As the sun begins to set on another 110-degree day, we navigate rough dirt roads to reach a cluster of tanks, pipelines and other hulking equipment casting long shadows on the desert floor. Jim Turner is waiting for us, ready to explain why General Motors invested millions of dollars in his company.
“We had a lot of meetings with them,” he says. “They finally got comfortable that they knew what we were doing.”
What Turner’s doing is preparing to build the area’s first new geothermal plant in a decade — and also produce lithium, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. The piping-hot underground fluid contains huge amounts of the valuable metal.
Turner’s employer, Controlled Thermal Resources, is one of several companies hurrying to build lithium plants here to supply car companies. It’s a mad dash that’s brought international attention to Imperial.
Environmental justice activists are eager to ensure that lithium and geothermal actually benefit low-income communities of color. But unlike with solar farms, there’s not much outright opposition. Local officials dream of a “Lithium Valley” economic renaissance that creates jobs and tax revenues without taking crops out of production.
It’s not yet clear whether the dream will materialize. The salty underground water corrodes equipment. Tapping it is expensive.
But Turner is optimistic. He says the wells Controlled Thermal has drilled are working better than expected.
“And in a couple of years when it’s all built, we’ll be able to actually show people,” he says.
There’s another climate benefit to geothermal power plants: They can generate electricity at all hours of the day and night. That includes sizzling evenings like the one we’re spending with Turner, who keeps wiping sweat from his brow.
“Solar’s great because it’s much less expensive, but it only works part of the day,” he says.
Here’s the thing about clean energy: There’s almost always a “but.”
Solar panels don’t work at night. Wind turbines kill birds. Nuclear reactors leave behind radioactive waste.
Geothermal is no silver bullet, either. Even if companies like Turner’s wring out every last bit of underground juice, in Imperial and elsewhere, it won’t provide nearly enough power to end the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.
There are no easy answers. No solutions that come free of cost. And for Imperial, no escaping the reality that some sacrifices are inevitable on a planet being reshaped by climate calamity.
“Before it became the Imperial Valley, it was God’s Country, and that was because only God would have it,” Kelley writes.
Now everyone wants a piece of this heating, drying, dustchoked place. But for Imperial and other farm belts to supply food, water and clean energy — and help Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix survive the 21st century — prosperity has to flow both ways.
‘Solar’s great because it’s much less expensive, but it only works part of the day.’ — JIM TURNER, of Controlled Thermal Resources, which is working to build a geothermal plant and also produce lithium, a key ingredient in EV batteries