关键词: 锂资源；油田卤水；地热卤水；提锂技术；能源转型

Abstract: Thanks to the need for the national energy transition, lithium resource is of greater and greater strategic importance to the areas of new energy vehicles and controllable nuclear fusion technology. Development of unconventional lithium resource (geothermal brine and oilfield brine) is of importance significance to alleviation of global lithium resource shortage. North America and European countries have made remarkable achievements in development of unconventional brine resource. China’s oil and gas field brine lithium extraction projects are still under the pilot stage and left behind as compared to the international advanced level. Based on analysis of the domestic and foreign geothermal and oilfield brine lithium extraction projects, this article compares the current conditions and differences in resource survey, product structure, technological roadway, industrial policies and capital operation in this area. The results indicate that China’s resource survey started late and and remained at a relatively low degree. In addition, the product structure needs to be perfected while the technological roadway is to be further optimized to improve the lithium productivity. In recent years, China has encouraged and supported oil and gas field brine lithium extraction in terms of industrial policies. The development capital is operated mainly by the State-owned enterprises like CNPC and Sinopec. It is proposed that the industrial leading enterprises should further enhance brine resource survey, accelerate development of direct lithium extraction technology, improve the brine-lithium product quality, and strengthen brine multiresource extraction and integrated utilization and research. It is also necessary to study the future industrial technology combined with controllable nuclear fusion technology to satisfy the future energy industrial demand and fulfill the green and low-carbon sustainable energy development objective.

Key words: lithium resource; oilfield brine; geothermal brine; lithium extraction technology; energy transition