Conventional methods for lithium extraction are a burden on the environment. Depending on the process, the CO₂ footprint and water consumption are immense. The large amount of land required is also a burden on the environment and raises social issues in the mining countries.

Unlike conventional lithium mining, Vulcan’s Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project aims to not burn fossil fuels in the lithium production and processing exercise and is environmentally and socially responsible due to very low water consumption and land use.

Given Vulcan’s trademarked logo includes the wording ‘Zero Carbon Lithium’ it is important the Company clarifies the usage of the term. Vulcan defines ‘Zero Carbon’ as “net zero carbon equivalent emissions”, the legal definition of which states that net zero emissions refer to achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas equivalent emissions produced and the amount removed or reduced. This is specifically related to the activities undertaken to extract and process the final lithium hydroxide monohydrate product from its combined lithium and geothermal energy brine resource located in the Upper Rhine Valley. Unlike existing lithium operations, Vulcan aims to not burn fossil fuels in the lithium production and processing exercise. Instead, it will use its renewable energy source to drive the lithium production process, whilst also selling its own geothermal heat and power to the grid, displacing fossil fuel generated energy. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided as a result of the displaced fossil fuel-generated energy allows Vulcan to define the project as net zero, or “Zero Carbon” per the Project’s trademarked nomenclature, the ‘Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project’.

Vulcan commissioned Minviro Ltd, an independent consultancy, to undertake an ISO-aligned Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the integrated geothermal renewable energy, lithium production and processing impacts to prove the validity of the carbon neutral nature of the Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project. Minviro’s LCA assessments are a cradle-to-gate study and include the extraction of the raw lithium product, the geothermal plant, the brine handling, the purification, electrolysis and crystallisation and the transport of the product from well sites through to the final processing plant. Minviro’s first ISO aligned LCA was conducted in 2021, one of the first such studies conducted on the lithium hydroxide supply chain globally, with the latest LCA update undertaken in 2023.

In addition, Vulcan engages Climate Active to verify the GHG emissions of Vulcan’s Australian organisation annually, which began in calendar year 2020. The latest carbon neutral certification covers the corporate team’s day-to-day emissions from 2022 across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, as defined by the GHG Protocol. Because Climate Active is an Australian based carbon neutral certification in partnership with the Australian Government and does not cover other jurisdictions, Vulcan certifies its German subsidiaries against European carbon neutral certifications.

For baseline calendar year 2021, Vulcan certified against South Pole’s carbon neutral organisation label. For 2022, Vulcan used Climate Impact Partner’s carbon neutral label, which covered business as usual emissions, in line with the Australian Climate Active certification, for Vulcan Energie Ressourcen GmbH, its engineering subsidiaries Vulcan Energy Engineering GmbH, Vulcan Energy Subsurface Solutions GmbH, the geothermal renewable energy operator Natürlich Insheim, and Vercana, Vulcan’s electric geothermal drilling subsidiary. Emissions associated with scale up and construction of the Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project are not included in the carbon neutral certifications because they are not part of the day-to-day operations. Instead, these emissions will be disclosed to the market on an annual basis and will be included in future LCA calculations.

As part of the carbon neutral certifications, and to bring the minimal GHG emissions balance associated with the Australian and German operations to net zero, Vulcan purchased good quality carbon credits through reputable suppliers, covered under the VERRA Verified Carbon Standard. Mitigation measures as part of the carbon neutral certificates include implementing energy efficiency measures within the offices and purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) to increase the mix of renewable energy in the electricity grid. Details of the Company’s estimated future carbon emissions associated with the life cycle of the planned Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project were disclosed to the market in 2021 (Minviro LCA announcement 4 August 2021), a breakdown of the GHG emissions categories associated with Vulcan’s operations and how they were calculated as well as information about the carbon credits purchased for 2021 were reported in the FY22 Sustainability Report.

The GHG emissions associated with Vulcan’s operations for 2022 will be reported in full in the 2023 Sustainability Report. Updated Minviro LCA data was announced as part of Vulcan’s Phase One Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) on 13 February 2023 and will continue to be reviewed at key Project milestones such as completion of the Bridging Study, and the start of commercial production.