Published: September 15, 2023 |

Application deadline is November 10, 2023.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched up to $150 million to advance cost effective and environmentally responsible processes to produce and refine critical minerals and materials here in the United States. The funding will help meet the growing demand for critical minerals and materials while reducing our dependence on offshore supplies. This funding opportunity will create good-paying jobs and support communities across the country that historically have depended on mining and energy production.

“The investments announced today enhance national security by reducing our reliance on foreign sources — while strengthening an existing mining and energy workforce to develop sustainable sourcing for these vital materials right here in the U.S.A.,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

CRITICAL MATERIAL INNOVATION, EFFICIENCY, AND ALTERNATIVES FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Mineral Information Center, the United States has over 50 different critical minerals. The U.S. is completely reliant on foreign sources for 12 of these minerals and more than 50 percent dependent on foreign sources for more than 30 of them. The funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will help to build a secure, sustainable domestic supply of critical minerals from a broad range of sources across the United States, including recycled materials, mine waste, industrial waste, and ore deposits.

Specifically, the FOA will support bench- and pilot-scale research, development, and demonstration projects for:
• Technologies or process improvements that develop new supplies of critical minerals and materials here at
  home
• Value-added products created from other materials that are part of the waste streams from which critical
  minerals and materials are extracted
• New, next-generation technologies to be used for lower cost, environmentally responsible extraction,
  production, separation, and processing of critical minerals and materials;
• Alternatives or substitutes for scarce critical minerals and materials that can be used as replacements in clean
  energy technologies
• New or improved alternative energy technologies or designs that use materials that are more abundant in the
  United States

SOCIETAL CONSIDERATIONS AND IMPACTS

Funding applicants must carefully address the societal considerations and impacts of their proposed projects, emphasizing early and active engagement with communities. 

Applicants must explain how projects are expected to deliver economic and environmental benefits and mitigate impacts; conduct community and stakeholder engagement; incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and promote workforce development and quality jobs. Projects selected under this opportunity will be required to develop and implement strategies to ensure strong community and worker benefits, and report on such activities and outcomes.

Read more details of this funding opportunity announcement HERE.

All questions must be submitted through FedConnect; register here for an account HERE. The application deadline is November 10, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. ET.

FECM minimizes environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across our economy. Priority areas of technology work include carbon capture, carbon conversion, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide transport and storage, hydrogen production with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, and critical minerals production. To learn more, visit the FECM website HERE. Visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory website HERE.

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