The Energy Department’s newly established Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, or CMEI, on Monday announced $134 million for extracting rare earth elements from mining and electronic waste.
The move marks one of the first funding opportunities under the banner of CMEI, a division that includes what was previously dubbed the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, an office that focused on efficiency, wind, solar and hydrogen projects. Audrey Robertson, who previously led EERE, is now helming the minerals office, DOE confirmed in an email.
President Donald Trump has moved to bolster the nation’s supply of rare earths, a group of 17 chemical elements needed for electric vehicles, electronics and military equipment that China currently controls.
“We have these resources here at home, but years of complacency ceded America’s mining and industrial base to other nations,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a release. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are reversing that trend, rebuilding America’s ability to mine, process, and manufacture the materials essential to our energy and economic security.”
