WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $17.5 million for four projects that will help lower the costs and reduce the environmental impacts of the onshore production of rare earths and other critical minerals and materials from coal, coal wastes, and coal by-products. The projects, funded by the Investment Infrastructure and Jobs Act, will help meet the growing demand for critical minerals and materials in the United States, while reducing our reliance on foreign supply chains. Rare earths and other critical minerals and materials are key to our nation’s defense and to U.S. manufacturing of energy technologies—such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has announced that a NETL-led project focused on accelerating and de-risking critical minerals and materials (CMMs) technology development and commercialization will receive $75 million to develop the Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC), bringing the expertise of nine national laboratories to bear on the nation’s critical materials challenges.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced its intent to release a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to support the creation of coalition teams comprising private industry; university; federal, state, and local government and tribal  personnel who will develop and implement strategies that enable each specific U.S. region to realize its full economic potential for producing critical minerals and materials and high-value, nonfuel, carbon-based products.

NETL experts recently joined U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) leaders in North Dakota to learn about the development of technologies that can harness the state’s massive reserves of lignite coal to extract key rare earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals (CMs), which are needed to manufacture nearly all high-tech devices and are critical to the clean energy economy.

WASHINGTON — In support of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $30 million to help lower the costs of the onshore production of rare earths and other critical minerals and materials from domestic coal-based resources. The funding, provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help meet the growing demand for critical minerals in the United States, while reducing our reliance on offshore supplies. Rare earths and other critical minerals are key to U.S.

NETL research focused on finding and characterizing unconventional sources of rare earth elements (REEs) reached a pivotal maturation point this year with the public release of several tools and publications to help stakeholders accelerate next-generation, clean-energy technologies by tapping into a domestic supply of these critical minerals (CMs).

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has released a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks input on the regional assessment and production of rare earth elements, critical minerals, and novel high-value, nonfuel carbon-based products from unconventional and secondary feedstocks such as coal and coal by-products and effluent waters from oil and natural gas development and production.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) issued a notice of intent (NOI) to fund a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program that will focus on developing advanced concepts to lower the costs of producing rare earth elements and critical minerals and materials from domestic coal-based resources.

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $16 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bring critical mineral supply chains to America and reduce reliance on competitors like China.

Editor’s note: In 2021, NETL awarded nearly $1 million to six recipients for project development under funding opportunity announcement (FOA) 2404, Advanced Processing of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals for Industrial and Manufacturing Applications. This is the second article highlighting these projects. Each article reviews three projects.