WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of Energy has announced nearly $10 million for two projects that will help lower the costs and reduce the environmental impact of producing rare earth elements and other critical minerals and materials from coal, coal wastes, and coal by-products.
The selected projects will help meet the growing demand for critical minerals and materials in the United States, while reducing U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains. Rare earth elements and other critical minerals and materials are incorporated into many products, including U.S.-manufactured clean energy technologies-such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells.
The United States currently imports more than 80 percent of its rare earth requirements.
Rare earth elements are present in domestic coal, coal wastes, and coal by-products in the U.S., which comprise more than 250 billion tons of coal reserves, 4 billion tons of waste coal, and about 2 billion tons of coal ash.
The two projects selected for negotiation are designed to conduct advanced laboratory and bench-scale testing to improve the economic viability of rare earth element and critical minerals and materials separation and refining technologies, the Department of Energy said.
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, plans to integrate both traditional and innovative rare earth separation methods to obtain individual rare earth elements in a highly pure form while simultaneously generating critical minerals and materials.
University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, plans to produce individually separated high-purity rare earth oxides, rare earth salts, rare earth metals, and critical minerals and materials from abundant, low-grade coal by-products using innovative mineral and chemical separation technologies.
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