The Department of Energy announced plans to build the nation’s first-ever facility to extract rare earth minerals from fossil fuel waste, an effort that could be transformative in powering clean energy technology in the United States.
On Monday, the DOE issued a request for information, or RFI, seeking feedback from industrial, academic, and government sectors on the construction and operation of the facility, which it said will be supported by $140 million from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The department has not yet selected a location for the refinery, though Jennifer Wilcox from DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management told CNN it will likely choose a region with heavy coal-waste concentrations, such as Appalachia, Wyoming, or North Dakota.
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If all goes according to plan, the refinery will allow the U.S. to extract rare earth minerals, including cobalt and nickel, from fossil fuel waste across the country — using this supply of so-called unconventional resources to power a raft of clean energy technology such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, and renewable-energy batteries.
Critically, the DOE said, the refinery would also reduce the nation’s reliance on offshore suppliers and aid in the creation of a stronger domestic supply chain.
The U.S. currently imports more than 80% of its rare earth elements, known as REE, from offshore suppliers, including from China, which as of 2019 was home to at least 85% of the world’s rare earth element extraction and processing facilities.
News of the facility comes as the Biden administration seeks to make progress on its commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050.
The U.S. is currently home to billions of tons of fossil fuel waste, including coal waste and coal ash, acid mine drainage, and produced water — all of which the DOE says contain valuable minerals that can be mined into clean energy technology.
“Applying next-generation technology to convert legacy fossil fuel waste into a domestic source of critical minerals needed to strengthen our supply chains is a win-win — delivering a healthier environment and driving us forward to our clean energy goals,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said Monday.
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“With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s investment in the build-out of this first-of-its-kind critical minerals refinery, we are moving ideas from the lab to the commercial stage and demonstrating how America can compete for the global supply chain to meet the growing demand for clean energy technology,” she said.
The DOE hopes to construct the facility by 2026 and begin operations in 2028, according to CNN.
