The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Looking to break America's reliance on China for rare earths and critical minerals, the U.S. Department of Energy is investing $140 million to develop a facility that extracts these minerals from unconventional sources and then refines them into the metals needed for electric vehicles, renewable energy generation, and other modern technologies. These technological advances are creating new demand for a suite of minerals and metals that are often rare and in short supply. In...
A group of bipartisan senators and a conservation organization are urging the White House to take definitive actions to bolster domestic production of the minerals critical to clean energy and national security. In a March 11 letter to President Biden, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) pointed out that the "lack of home-grown production...
With mass production of batteries that store intermittent renewable energy and power electric vehicles being a vital component of the envisioned clean energy future, the Biden administration has authorized use of the Defense Production Act to bolster American supplies of these critical battery minerals and materials. "Specifically, the DPA will be authorized to support the production and processing of minerals and materials used for large capacity batteries – such as l...
To help shore up domestic supplies of the cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel, and other materials that go into lithium-ion batteries, the U.S. Department of Energy has directed $3.16 billion from the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to bolster supply chains. This multi-billion-dollar funding comes a month after President Biden authorized the Pentagon to utilize the estimated $750 million of available Defense Production Act Title III funding to establish and...
In a move to fund research and build alliances across America's lithium battery supply chain, the U.S. Department of Energy is providing $209 million for 26 new national laboratory research projects focused on electric vehicles and the next generation of advanced batteries that will power them. "President Biden's administration wants to make it easier for millions of American families and businesses to make the switch to electric vehicles," said Secretary of Energy Jennifer...
The U.S. Geological Survey has unveiled a proposed list of 50 minerals and metals critical to the United States. While this seems to be a major jump over the 35 critical minerals on the original list published in 2018, most of the increase is from a much-needed breakdown of the rare earth elements and platinum group metals. Listed as a single commodity on the 2018 critical minerals list, rare earths are a group of 15 individual elements, each with their own properties, uses,...
The U.S. Department of the Interior is distributing more than $74.6 million to 30 states for critical minerals investigations under the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, or Earth MRI. These investments, which include $64 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aim to help improve the understanding of domestic critical mineral resources, a key to securing a reliable, domestic, and sustainable supply of minerals and metals critical t...
The supply chain repercussions of Russia's war with Ukraine have policymakers in Washington, DC concerned about securing supplies of antimony, which is critical to renewable energy storage technologies and national defense. Antimony is a metalloid, which means it falls between metals such as zinc and solid nonmetals like sulfur, with some interesting properties that make it a strategic material for the U.S. military. "Antimony is a key ingredient in communication equipment,...
Ontario has developed a mines-to-market critical minerals strategy that leverages rich stores of critical minerals in the northern reaches of the Canadian province, the already well-established mining sector found there, and the robust manufacturing sector that has been developed in the south. "The Critical Minerals Strategy is our government's blueprint to connect industries, resources and workers in our province's north to the future of manufacturing in the south as we...
The U.S. Geological Survey has finalized a list of 50 minerals and metals critical to the United States. While seemingly a large increase over the 35 critical minerals on the 2018 list, most of the additions are from individually listing the constituents of two mineral groups, rare earth elements and platinum group metals. In addition to listing each rare earth and platinum group element individually, the changes to the list of U.S. critical minerals include the addition of...
The European Raw Materials Alliance released its action plan to secure access to rare earth elements for the industrial sector in the European Union. Detailed in a 38-page report published on Sept. 30, the plan outlines current and projected European demand for REEs and steps that should be taken to secure their supply. "The EU has committed to the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. The raw materials needs to facilitate this energy transition are massive, and Europe...
Seeking to solidify Australia as a leading supplier of the critical minerals that are increasingly being required for electric vehicles, renewable energy, telecommunications, aerospace, defense, and other advanced technologies, the federal government is establishing an AU$2 billion (US$1.44 billion) loan facility for Australian mining projects poised to deliver these vital materials to global markets. Understanding that traditional funding options are often difficult due to...
The United States' withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan opened the door for China to swoop in and lay claim to the more than $1 trillion worth of lithium, rare earths, and other metals and gems estimated to lie below a landscape marked by more than 40 years of continuous war. Digging up the rich natural resources in Afghanistan will not be easy and it is not likely that China will consider the now Taliban-run country as a dependable source of critical minerals and metals in t...
Canada and the European Union have forged a new strategic partnership to help secure the supply chains for minerals and metals critical to the global transition to a low-carbon and digitized economy, as well as reduce dependence on China for the raw materials essential to electric vehicles, renewable energy, and advanced battery storage. Following the G7 summit, held in Cornwall, United Kingdom over the weekend, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau individually met with...
The Biden administration sees domestic mining as an important segment at the front end of the critical supply chains it endeavors to strengthen, as long as the mining is carried out at the highest environmental, labor, and sustainability standards. The "Executive order on America's Supply Chains" signed by President Joe Biden in February tasked federal agencies to carry out a 100-day assessment of the vulnerabilities to United States supply chains and to find solutions to...
From $15 billion to bolster clean energy research to incentives aimed at encouraging Americans to buy electric vehicles, the Biden administration's proposed $174 billion investment in the United States EV industry is a once-in-a-generation strategy that is missing a key piece – a plan to secure the minerals needed to manufacture these vehicles and the batteries that go in them. In a new fact sheet that outlines its plan to supercharge U.S. transportation and manufacturing, t...
Policymakers must take swift and decisive action to ensure that the minerals critical to the global transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles are not the bottleneck that prevents governments from meeting their climate goals, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. "Today, the data shows a looming mismatch between the world's strengthened climate ambitions and the availability of critical minerals that are essential to realizing those...
Seeking to bolster America's critical mineral supply chain, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has introduced legislation that tackles the notoriously long permitting process in the United States. "America's reliance on foreign countries for the production and recycling of our critical minerals is a vulnerability to our national security, a disadvantage to our economy, and a hindrance to our global competitiveness. Unfortunately, the current federal permitting and review process...
Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Congressman David McKinley, R- West Virginia, along with 12 other U.S. lawmakers, are urging the Biden administration to develop domestic metallurgical capabilities for the separation and processing of rare earth elements to end America's dependence on China for this critical supply chain. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the lawmakers wrote, "China's monopoly of the rare earth value chain is a significant...
A pair of Texas congressmen, Republican Lance Gooden and Democrat Vicente Gonzalez have introduced the Reclaiming American Rare Earths Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at reducing America's dependence on China for rare earth elements and other minerals critical to the United States. The U.S. depends on foreign countries for more than 50% of its supply of 28 of the 35 minerals deemed critical to America's economic and national security, including 100% import-reliant for 14 of...
While hailing President Joe Biden's use of the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic supplies of battery minerals and materials as a win for rebuilding United States supply chains, the bipartisan group of senators that urged this action say more needs to be done to curb America's heavy dependence on oft adversarial countries for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's security and economic wellbeing. "While I am heartened that President Biden is heeding our...
On Feb. 22, 2022, Teck Resources Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska became the largest critical minerals operation in the United States, both in terms of quantity and value of the materials produced at this world-class base, precious, and critical minerals operation. Being catapulted to America's top dog when it comes to critical minerals production is not due to the germanium produced, though this semiconductor metal vital to ultrafast computing and communications is...
While laying out an action plan to establish the national network of electric vehicle charging stations needed to keep pace with its ambitious goal of 50% of all vehicles sold in the United States being electric by 2030, the Biden administration reiterated that domestic battery manufacturing and critical minerals supplies are key aspects of the overall EV strategy. The White House is backing up this commitment to domestic battery supply chains with roughly $20 billion in loan...
With renewable energy and electric vehicles driving enormous new demand, the United States Department of Energy is investing $30 million into 13 projects to develop new technologies that will help secure the supply of critical materials such as cobalt, platinum group metals, and rare earth elements needed to build clean energy technologies. The selected national lab- and university-led research projects aim to diversify the supply of, develop substitutes for, and improve the...
The National Mining Association and a group of 16 companies working to establish a complete rare earths mines-to-magnets supply chain in the United States are urging Congress to approve legislation that would provide tax incentives for the domestic manufacturing of REE magnets. Earlier this month, Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-California) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania) introduced HR 5033, a bipartisan bill to help stimulate domestic production of rare earth magnets as part...
