Stellantis Enters Joint Venture with Vulcan Energy Resources to Harness Geothermal Energy
Automotive group Stellantis is really starting to blow up, isn’t it? And in all good ways since it released its new Dare Forward 2030 business strategy. Opening up a new gigafactory for battery-electric vehicle (BEVs) battery production and investing in startups with its new Stellantis Ventures incentive, the automotive group now has its sights set on recycling parts and renewable energy. Finding ways to make use of the resources we already have available to us is better than mining for coal and drilling the planet for oil. It’s all fossil fuels anyways, and even though it’s been built up over millions of years, all that dead plant and animal matter will dry up eventually. That’s why Stellantis and Vulcan Energy Resources Limited have signed a binding term to go for the next best thing – geothermal energy.
What is geothermal energy? Volcanoes may come to mind, and it’s not that far off. Geothermal energy is actually heat energy that is generated within the earth. A clean and renewable resource that can be used to power a number of machinery and appliances, geothermal energy can be harnessed for heat and electricity.
According to the United States Energy Information Administration, the U.S. have been generating electricity from geothermal energy in a large way, averaging 9.81 to 15 billion kWh between 2008-2010. Surely this number has grown, but it’s no easy feat. The hottest part of the planet, the Earth’s core, can be found about 1800 miles below the Earth’s crust/surface. Harnessing that kind of power would be pretty crazy, but so far, the majority of geothermal energy comes from the decay of radioactive isotopes, then radiating outward and warming rocks, water, gas, and other geological material.
The new joint-venture is in the name of powering an industrial site in France. Powering family homes with solar power has been around for some time, and growing in popularity, giving homeowners more control over their energy use and not having to rely on the city power grid. The next step would be powering an entire city, but everything starts small. Stellantis and Vulcan Energy Resources are currently working together for the first phase of a multiphase project to develop new geothermal projects that can decarbonize the energy mix of Stellantis’ Mulhouse industrial site in France. This includes the construction of geothermal renewable energy assets for Stellantis’ facility, followed by the next phase of 3D seismic exploration and more advanced studies to further the successful collection and use of geothermal energy. Projections for this new geothermal energy project claim that a significant portion of the industrial site’s annual energy needs could be met as early as 2026.
“Vulcan’s core mission is decarbonisation, through renewable energy and carbon neutral lithium supply…Vulcan is here to support Stellantis, our largest lithium customer and one of our major shareholders, to decarbonise its operations in Europe. While we remain focused on our Phase One geothermal-lithium developments in the center of the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field, this project is a complementary opportunity to expand our future development pipeline to some of the outer lying areas in the Upper Rhine Valley, supported by industrial partners like Stellantis.” – Vulcan Managing Director and CEO, Dr. Francis Wedin
Carbon neutrality – that’s the goal for a lot of automakers these days, and what better way than to harness the energy right under our feet? Want to keep up with what’s new for Stellantis? Follow along with us on Aventura Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram social media.