Department of Energy Funding Efforts to Strengthen Critical Materials Supply Chain

The Department of Energy announced that it issued a request for information on the development and implementation of a $675 million Critical Materials Research, Development, Demonstration and Commercialization Program on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration. The initiative seeks to address vulnerabilities in the domestic critical materials supply chain and will draw its funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the DOE said Tuesday.

In a statement, the department said that supply chain vulnerabilities are both an economic disadvantage and an impediment to the clean energy transition. The DOE is focused on the constant availability of rare-earth elements such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are required for manufacturing many clean energy technologies. Such critical materials are often used in batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.

Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is supporting DOE’s effort to invest in the building blocks of clean energy technologies, which will revitalize America’s manufacturing leadership and bring along the benefits of good-paying jobs.

The DOE explained that the program targets to advance domestic sourcing and production of materials critical to clean energy and strengthen America’s position as a global manufacturing leader. It is forecasted that the global demand for such critical materials will grow between 400 to 600 percent over the next few decades.

It further projected that for certain materials, particularly the lithium used in lithium-ion batteries, global demand can spike up to 4,000 percent in the coming years. In preparation for the tremendous demand growth, a comprehensive strategy for increasing domestic raw-materials production and manufacturing capacity is urgently needed, according to the DOE.