WASHINGTON, June 2, 2016 - The Department of
Energy will provide $4 million in funding for four research
and development projects to assess the occurrence of rare-earth minerals and
other critical materials that play a vital role in many clean energy
technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles.
DOE says that by validating methods for
recovering and purifying critical materials the economic and production
benefits of geothermal energy projects can be improved, making them more
cost-competitive at a wider range of locations.
Not an Agri-Pulse subscriber? Get our Daily
Harvest email and Daybreak audio Monday through Friday mornings, a 16-page
newsletter on Wednesdays, and access to premium content on our ag and rural
policy website. Sign up for your four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription.
The selected projects will research
breakthrough approaches for extracting these materials and quantifying their
resource potential, DOE says. The plan represents an opportunity to help meet
America's need for domestic critical materials while strengthening the economic
viability of geothermal energy operations.
Here’s a look at the selected projects:
-
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will use bioengineered microbes in the
design and operation of a rare-earth enrichment and separation process to
efficiently deliver high-purity products from geothermal fluids.
-
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richmond,
Washington, will demonstrate a magnetic nanofluid
approach to recover rare-earth minerals and other high-value materials
from geothermal fluids.
-
University of Utah will perform a resource assessment of the western U.S.
to identify high-value materials in geothermal fluids and other fluids
produced from energy projects.
-
University of Wyoming will
assess rare-earth element concentrations in waters produced by geothermal
and oil and gas projects.
#30
For
more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com