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  • American tortoise and Chinese hare race past solar panels and smokestacks.

    China's clean energy success and failure

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 15, 2024

    Rio Tinto CEO and others urge Western governments to speed up clean energy transition, citing exemplary Chinese achievements. Though the Western world may not agree with China's political and international trade policies, Beijing saw the writing on the wall nearly two decades before the rest of the world and took major steps to be the first and greatest power in the green energy transition – both as a buyer and supplier of critical minerals and as a top maker of key energy t... Full story

  • Two female scientists in a laboratory.

    DOE calls on labs to lower concrete CO2

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 22, 2024

    U.S. Department of Energy plans a Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence to reduce industrial emissions. In its continued mission to help the U.S. reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) is creating a Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence to accelerate the development and adoption of novel low-carbon cement and concrete technologies. Up to $9 million for national labs to... Full story

  • Steam venting out of a nuclear power plant.

    US launches major nuclear fuel initiative

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    DOE announces $2.7 billion funding to boost U.S. nuclear fuel production, aims to replace Russian imports and enhance energy security. In a major stride toward energy independence, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced a $2.7 billion initiative under President Biden's Investing in America agenda to revitalize the nation's nuclear fuel supply chain, severing ties with Russian imports and fortifying domestic energy security. Over the past few years, DOE has taken several...

  • Rendering of bubbles with a floating hydrogen chemical symbol.

    DOE continues H2 funding with $750M

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 8, 2024

    The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy continues support of growing U.S. green hydrogen. The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a $750 million infusion into clean hydrogen to significantly reduce its cost, beat out China for global leadership in hydrogen, and develop American energy independence through expansion of the industry. Clean hydrogen adoption by some of the country's most energy-intensive and CO2-emitting sectors is an essential part of the green...

  • A map graphic designed to show connections between Canadian regions.

    Canada's call for clean mining innovations

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 13, 2024

    Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator network issues third round of pan-Canadian call for proposals Issuing its third pan-Canadian call for proposals from innovative clean-tech companies for the mining industry, the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) network, supported by the Government of Canada, hopes to once again drive the nationwide commodity toward modernization through efficiency and sustainability. Created in 2021 through a strategic C$40...

  • SK Siltron silicon carbide wafers lined up neatly in a package.

    DOE offers $544M to semiconductor company

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 9, 2024

    Department of Energy hopes to build a more secure and resilient semiconductor supply chain for EV manufacturing in the U.S. Once again investing in the future of secure, domestic manufacturing, the U.S. Department of Energy, through its Loan Programs Office (LPO) has conditionally committed to loan SK Siltron CSS, LLC $544 million to expand American production of high-quality silicon carbide (SiC) wafers for electric vehicles. This more than half-a-billion-dollar loan toward...

  • African woman mine worker wearing a hard hat smiles as she takes a rest.

    Solving the mining industry's PR problem

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Sep 19, 2023

    A mining company can never fully integrate a culture of sustainability motivated by compliance alone –satisfying laws, norms, and investors rather than taking risks and creating lasting, generational value. This message, delivered by Professor David Wheeler during the 2018 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention, continues to resonate with an industry that is now being championed as a key enabler of a clean energy future. To be seen in a better light, the m...

  • A technician with electronic equipment surveys a gold mine in Nevada.

    Newmont CEO delivers powerful message

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Sep 8, 2023

    Urges the mining industry to build goodwill and trust to survive societal, geopolitical, and new technology megatrends in a changing world. Newmont President and CEO Tom Palmer did not waste his keynote address at the Minerals Week 2023 gathering in Australia to tout the many achievements of the world's largest gold mining company he leads. Instead, he delivered a powerful and sometimes foreboding message to the mining leaders in the room and around the world about the... Full story

  • Aerial view of Bornite exploration camp in Alaska’s Ambler Mining District.

    Critical minerals war in the White House

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    The White House's bold clean energy ambitions, which are intricately linked to the availability of reliable supplies of the metals needed to build electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure, are being slowed by a tug-o-war between departments within the Biden administration. While the departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy are forging ahead with programs and investments aimed at ensuring America has the minerals and metals needed to support the clean energy... Full story

  • America's largest nuclear plant, the Palo Verde plant in Arizona.

    Nuclear gets historical tax incentives

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Sep 13, 2022

    The Inflation Reduction Act aims to lower energy bills for U.S. consumers, among many other financial and climate benefits. Nuclear energy is among the benefactors of this landmark legislation. According to the Office of Nuclear Energy, the law entails a production tax credit to help preserve the existing fleet of nuclear plants. "This is a huge priority for our office," the federal nuclear office penned in a statement. The zero-emission nuclear power production credit...

  • Various e-waste in the form of lithium-ion batteries.

    DOE seeks lithium battery recycling input

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Aug 30, 2022

    As part of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy is seeking input to help guide the future implementation of $335 million in investments for lithium-ion battery recycling programs. "Battery recycling doesn't just remove harmful waste from our environment, it also strengthens domestic manufacturing by placing used materials back into the supply chain," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer...

  • A factory smokestack puffing out billows of steam.

    DOE seeks input for clean energy projects

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Aug 9, 2022

    The United States Department of Energy is seeking public input for a new $750 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program is aimed at supporting small and medium-sized manufacturers to produce or recycle clean energy products or deploy cutting-edge greenhouse gas-reducing equipment at facilities in coal communities. Along with these investments, the program will expand the nation's clean energy...

  • DOE e-mobility funding SuperTruck 18-wheeler electric freight truck green energy

    DOE offers $162.75 million for e-mobility

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    With transportation accounting for roughly 30% of America's energy consumption and the largest contributor to the country's greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. Department of Energy is offering more than $162 million in funding to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions for cars, trucks, and off-road vehicles. "Getting to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 means we must aggressively cut down the largest source of emissions: the transportation sector," said Secretary of Ene...

  • MiTRAQ Ghaleb El Masri NRCan net-zero carbon emissions Nouveau Monde

    Energy efficiency tool for Canada miners

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    With net-zero carbon emissions from Canada's natural resource sectors being elevated to a national priority, Natural Resources Canada has teamed up with MiTRAQ to offer the Mining Energy Benchmarking Platform to promote energy efficiency and support a low-carbon future for Canada's mining sector. Unveiled on Dec. 14, the Mining Energy Benchmarking Platform enables analysis of power generation and consumption at mine sites and provides data-driven insight into energy use...

  • Onshoring Rare Earths Act ORE Act grants for graphite cobalt lithium manganese

    ORE Act encourages more than rare earths

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    The Onshoring Rare Earths Act of 2020, or ORE Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on May 12 reaches beyond the 17 rare earth elements to include an additional four minerals and metals needed for lithium-ion batteries – cobalt, graphite, lithium and manganese. Cruz, who has long held that "China is the most significant geopolitical threat to the United States for the next century", introduced ORE Act as means of steering America's dependence for rare e...

  • Rare earth elements periodic table ores act domestic us production critical

    Cruz aims to end US reliance on China REE

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) May 12 introduced the Onshoring Rare Earths Act of 2020, or ORE Act, legislation to end the United States' dependence on China for rare earth elements and other critical minerals used to manufacture our defense technologies and high-tech products. "Our ability as a nation to manufacture defense technologies and support our military is dangerously dependent on our ability to access rare earth elements and critical minerals mined, refined, and...