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June 9, 2017 - The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy today announced it is investing $6.9 million in rare earth element (REE) research through two funding opportunities. DOE announced today that three projects have been selected to receive approximately $3 million for research aimed at producing salable rare earth elements (REEs) from domestic coal and coal by-products. In addition, DOE has announced the availability of an additional $3.95 million for projects in three new topic areas to accelerate separation and extraction processes for REEs.
REEs are a series of 17 chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust. Due to their unique chemical properties, REEs are essential components of technologies spanning a range of applications, including electronics, computer and communication systems, transportation, health care, and national defense.
The demand for REEs has grown significantly in recent years, stimulating an interest in economically feasible approaches for domestic REE recovery. Since 2014, DOE has engaged in research to determine the economic feasibility of producing REEs from domestic coal and coal by-products.
The new projects were selected under the Production of Salable Rare Earth Elements from Domestic U.S. Coal and Coal Byproducts funding opportunity announcement (FOA). Descriptions of the selected projects follow:
In addition, DOE has issued the Development of Separation and Extraction Processes for Production of Rare Earth Element (REE) Materials from Domestic U.S. Coal and Coal By-Products funding opportunity announcement. Projects selected under this FOA will focus on improving the technical, environmental, and economic performance of existing processes that recover REEs from domestic U.S. coal and coal by-products. This FOA has three topic areas:
DOE anticipates making up to eight selections under this FOA. Projects require a minimum 20 percent cost share from each recipient. More information about the funding opportunity can be found here.
More information on the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s rare earth elements research can be found on the NETL website. To learn more about the programs within the Office of Fossil Energy visit their website HERE. |
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