The US Department of Energy (DOE) launched a first-of-its-kind Critical Materials Collaborative (CMC) and announced its intent to fund up to $10 million to establish a Critical Materials Accelerator Program.

The vision of the CMC is to integrate critical materials applied research, development and demonstration (RD&D) across DOE and the federal government, to accelerate the development of domestic critical material supply chains for the nation. The CMC will operationalize coordination and collaboration, while creating a value-add for RD&D performers by expanding their access to world-class expertise, capabilities, and facilities.

The CMC convenes DOE investments across the entire innovation pipeline, from the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office's (AMMTO) Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub, to AMMTO’s Critical Materials Accelerator Program, to the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) Critical Materials FOA announced earlier this month. These investments represent the first of many DOE programs to be coordinated through the CMC.

AMMTO recently renewed the Critical Materials Institute for a third five-year phase under the new Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub name, with a refreshed mission to accelerate the development of critical material technologies and enhance the innovation pipeline for US supply chains by accelerating research, educating a diverse workforce, and creating de-risked, commercial-ready technologies in partnership with American industry.

The CMI Hub will establish a new project portfolio around four research focus areas:

• Enhancing and Diversifying Supply;

• Developing Substitutes;

• Building a Circular Economy; and

• Crosscutting Research.

The CMI Hub will also play a key role in the CMC by serving as an innovation engine and convener for shared ideas and best practices.

Coinciding with the CMC launch, AMMTO today announced a notice of intent to fund up to $10 million to establish a Critical Materials Accelerator Program. (DE-FOA-0003154) Projects funded through the Accelerator Program will prototype and mature technologies or processes to address critical material challenges in high impact areas, including rare earth magnets for electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbine generators.

The Accelerator will advance early-stage science and technology solutions’ research coming out of the CMI Hub.

Accelerated projects then could be demonstrated at the pilot scale through opportunities such as FECM’s announcement of 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. This funding, provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help to meet the growing demand for critical minerals and materials while reducing US dependence on offshore supplies, in alignment with the CMC’s mission.

he CMC will leverage the 2023 DOE Critical Materials Assessment, the latest in a series of strategy reports DOE has been releasing since 2010, to prioritize investigating substitutes, alternatives, and recycling technologies that secure a sustainable supply of critical minerals and materials. This year marked the first time DOE designated a list of critical materials necessary to secure the clean energy economy.

The CMC is co-chaired by experts from AMMTO and FECM. Other partners include ARPA-E, EERE’s Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), and Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), as well as the Office of Electricity (OE), Office of International Affairs (IA), Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Office of Science (OS), Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), Office of Policy (OP), and Loan Programs Office (LPO).