DOE Invests in Rare Earth Production Projects

The Department of Energy has announced funding for several projects to support the production of materials used in clean energy technology.

About $19 million in funding will go to 13 traditionally fossil fuel-producing communities to encourage the production of rare earth elements and minerals used to manufacture batteries, magnets and other components, DOE said Thursday.

“The very same fossil fuel communities that have powered our nation for decades can be at the forefront of the clean energy economy,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

She added that the new investment will help secure the clean energy supply chain and create good-paying jobs across the United States.

A White House interagency working group recently said that the government’s net-zero effort should be driven by economic incentives that support workers.

The projects fall under 12 areas of interest that revolve around several U.S. basins that have the potential to produce rare earth elements and critical minerals.

DOE said the focus areas include cataloging rare earth elements, promoting regional economic growth, deploying new manufacturing technologies, transforming coal-based resource usage, reducing reliance on imported rare earth elements and critical minerals, and studying the feasibility of recovering critical materials.

The awardees are Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Collaborative Composite Solutions, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the University of Illinois board of trustees, University of Wyoming, University of Utah, University of Texas at Austin, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Kansas Center for Research and West Virginia University Research Corporation.

All projects will be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, which finances projects to advance fossil energy technology and sustainability.