DOE seeks to ensure availability of critical materials

DOE’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) intends to fund up to $4 million in six awards to help assure supply chains of materials critical to clean energy technologies. These materials, largely critical minerals, enable manufacturing innovation and enhance national energy security. Concept papers are due by July 1.

According to the American GeoSciences Institute, many critical minerals are metals that are central to high-tech sectors. They include metals such as lithium, indium, tellurium, gallium and platinum group elements. They also include the 17 rare-earth elements: cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium and yttrium.