Brady Chapman has co-authored a paper with Dr. Rudiger Tscherning, law professor at the University of Calgary.
The publication titled “Navigating the emerging lithium rush: lithium extraction from brines for clean-tech battery storage technologies” is published in the Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law.
Lithim-ion batteries are a key component of electric vehicle technologies and renewable energy storage. However, current lithium extraction processes do not meet the ‘clean-tech’ industry’s environmental and socially compliant standards. Several companies are actively working on an innovative and more compliant lithium extraction process that involves scrubbing lithium from lithium-enriched brines through standalone extraction facilities or by purifying wastewater from oil and gas operations.
This paper examines the legal considerations and risks associated with the development of a lithium extraction industry in Western Canada, focusing on Alberta as a traditional oil and gas jurisdiction. In particular, the authors provide an analysis on whether existing oil and gas regulatory regimes will be prepared for the lithium industry as a new subsurface participant and how to secure critical and strategic minerals for a localized clean-tech industry in Alberta.
There is increased governmental interest in the development of the emerging lithium extraction industry as Western Canada is ripe with opportunity to commercialize on this new technology.
Congratulations to Brady on the publication of this paper. Read the full paper here.
About Brady Chapman
Brady obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Calgary. He returns to the firm as an articling student after summering at the firm’s Calgary office in 2019 and 2018. Prior to law school, he worked in the Office of the Chief Scientist at Natural Resources Canada. During law school, he worked as a legal research assistant for Professor Rudiger Tscherning at the University of Calgary.