Search Here

Leading researchers from academia will soon be part of a $120 million Department of Energy initiative to help develop sustainable solutions for producing more "rare earth materials" in the country so that foreign dependence lessens.

The DOE will set up a new research center called - Critical Materials Institute (CMI) to facilitate this project.

"Rare earth metals and other critical materials are essential to manufacturing wind turbines, electric vehicles, advanced batteries and a host of other products that are essential to America's energy and national security, " David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy told R &D Magazine. "The Critical Materials Institute will bring together the best and brightest research minds from universities, national laboratories and the private sector to find innovative technology solutions that will help us avoid a supply shortage that would threaten our clean energy industry as well as our security interests."

As the environmental laws are flexible in China compared to U.S, they hold dominance in this sector with a major 95 percent share, Local News 8 said.

Rare materials constitute around 17 chemical elements, which are useful for producing many technological appliances such as cellular telephones, cameras and computers. Some of the rare materials include Neodymium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Gadolinium, Yttrium, terbium and europium.

"You use these things constantly in every-day applications, probably without ever knowing about it," David Miller, director of Process Science and Technology for INL told Local News 8. "Basically if we didn't have these materials, certain things we just wouldn't be able to have them in our day to day lives."

These materials are also utilized for creating military applications such as advanced optics technologies, radar and radiation detection equipment and advanced communications systems, BBC reported.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, approximately 13 million metric tons of rare earth elements (REE) exist in 14 states in the U.S. Some of the states include Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina.

David Danielson, the US assistant secretary for renewable energy told BBC that in addition to their usage in technological and military industry, the materials can also be used for producing low-carbon resources such as wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars.

Danielson is hopeful that this project will help avoid a supply shortage that threatens the country's clean energy industry as well as its security interests.