SQM calls for submissions to a lithium-ion battery innovation and entrepreneurship initiative aiming to reduce carbon footprints

Initiative to Promote Electromobility and Energy Storage in the Community:

Clean and renewable energy promotion addresses current environmental challenges and people’s desire to stop climate change and create a more sustainable world for future generations. SQM has prioritized contributing to carbon neutrality through its role as a global supplier of sustainable lithium.

SQM has a history of innovation and is a leader in lithium production, which leads it to issue today’s call for submissions to the Innovation Open entitled “More Lithium, Less Footprint”, which seeks innovative solutions that bring electromobility and stationary energy storage closer to the people.

The proposal is part of the robust sustainability plan with concrete goals that SQM presented in 2020. It includes reducing consumption of continental water at all operations in Chile by 40% by 2030 and 65% by 2040; reducing brine extraction in the Salar de Atacama by 50% by 2030, which began last year with an immediate reduction of 20%; and being carbon neutral in iodine, lithium and potassium chloride by 2030 and all SQM products by 2040.

Pablo Altimiras, Senior Vice President of Lithium and Iodine at SQM remarked, “Contributing to Chile’s sustainable development and improving quality of life for Chileans is very important to SQM.” That is the main reason why we are promoting innovation in the use of lithium-ion technology through this initiative, which involves and aims to discover new paths for electromobility and storage systems, particularly those aiming to resolve shortages in communities or during extreme conditions.”

The call for submissions is supported by INNSPIRAL—a corporate innovation accelerator—and is open to R&D centers, universities, SMEs, startups and initiatives already underway with proposals that contribute and have a positive impact on related initiatives.

In that context, SQM is seeking innovative proposals with social and environmental impact that address specific needs within two macro themes. First, electromobility proposals that promote development in Chile, with preference given to creating value in remote, isolated or vulnerable areas of the country through accessible and more energy-efficient transportation. Second, SQM hopes to attract stationary storage proposals that extend storage technologies to promote self-generation and self-consumption in the preferential areas listed above that do not have access to the electricity grids or experience supply interruptions.

Applicants compete for US$100,000 in prize money that will be split between the top three places (US$50,000 for first; US$30,000 for second and US$20,000 for third), along with support to develop a pilot of the winning business proposal and executive mentorships with SQM experts.​

Applications, terms and conditions available at: https://www.openinnspiral.com/maslitiomenoshuella. Applications will be accepted between September 27 and October 24, 2021.