DOE critical minerals collaboration launch

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy launched a unifying Critical Materials Collaborative this week to "harness and unify critical materials research across America's innovation ecosystem."

Building on momentum from the 2023 DOE Critical Materials Assessment, the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office has announced plans to fund up to $10 million to establish a Critical Materials Accelerator Program.

Projects funded through the program will prototype and mature technologies and processes to address critical material challenges in high-impact areas including rare earth magnets for electric vehicles, defense technologies, and wind turbine generators. The program will advance early-stage science and technology solutions coming out of the CMI Hub.

"By working across DOE, government, industry, and academia, we will be able to maximize the impact of these investments to move the needle on the clean energy transition," said Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for EERE.

New innovator opportunities

The CMC's objective is to integrate applied research, development, and demonstration to strengthen home-grown critical material supply chains. Focus is on coordination and collaboration while expanding innovators' access to world-class expertise, capabilities, and facilities.

This added organization and interdepartmental cooperation is intended to expedite hardy U.S. critical mineral supply chains by accelerating research, educating a diverse workforce, and creating commercial-ready technologies in partnership with industry leaders.

The CMI Hub will serve as an innovation engine, seeking out projects around four key research focus areas: supply enhancement and diversification; critical mineral substitutes; building a circular economy; and multidisciplinary research, sharing ideas, and best practices.

DOE investments across the entire innovation pipeline will now be coordinated by The CMC from the AAMTO's CMI Hub and Critical Materials Accelerator Program to the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management's (FECM) Critical Materials FOA announced earlier this month, to name a few.

Accelerated projects then would be piloted through opportunities such as FECM's $150 million budget to advance green, cost-effective critical minerals production and refinement focused on reducing America's dependence on imported materials and further the Biden-Harris Administration's ambitious climate goals.

The CMC will also prioritize the investigation of materials substitutes, alternatives, and recycling technologies that emphasize reduced demand and a truly circular, sustainable supply of critical minerals and materials, relieving the pressure to find and develop extensive mines to keep up with demand.

"U.S. commercial minerals processing capabilities have been on the decline for decades, while the need for critical minerals continues to grow," said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. "The Critical Materials Collaborative and related work being done across DOE, coupled with investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act, are creating the innovation ecosystem needed to get the U.S. minerals sector back on track."