The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is investing $30 million in 13 projects that aim to conserve and sustain the supply of materials needed for clean energy systems.
Universities and national laboratories lead these projects to develop technologies that diversify, recycle and provide alternatives for rare-earth (REEs) and platinum group elements (PGEs), DOE said Thursday.
REEs and PGEs generally support a variety of clean energy applications, such as rechargeable batteries and emission regulation systems.
These elements include cobalt, neodymium and platinum, which are critical for electric vehicle batteries, windmills and fuel production systems, respectively.
“Expanding electric vehicle infrastructure, hardening our nation’s electrical grid and powering our economy with millions of clean energy jobs all rely on securing supply chains of critical materials like cobalt and platinum,” said Jennifer Granholm, secretary of energy.
