USA: GTO Funding Opportunity to Recover Critical Materials from Geothermal Brine

EERE Announces Up to $4 Million for Critical Materials Recovery from Geothermal Fluids (EERE/GTO)

Critical materials like rare-earth elements and lithium play a vital role in many clean-energy technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and energy-saving lighting. The Energy Department is pursuing a range of research and development efforts to secure and diversify the supply of critical materials, identify substitute materials, and develop better ways to recycle these materials.  One exciting area of this research is examining how to recover critical materials from fluids or “brine” produced from the Earth’s subsurface by geothermal and other energy or mining projects.

The United States imports many critical materials we need to expand our clean energy economy. Some of them may be found in the fluids produced by geothermal power operations or prospective geothermal projects. To explore this potential, today our Geothermal Technologies Office released a funding opportunity announcement titled “Mineral Recovery Phase II: Geothermal Concepts and Approaches to Validate Extraction Technologies.” The Department will provide up to $4 million for approximately three research projects to assess the occurrence of rare earths and other valuable materials dissolved in geothermal or other high-temperature fluids and validate methods for extracting them.

• Concept Paper Submission Deadline: 1/6/2016 5:00 PM ET
• Full Application Submission Deadline: 2/29/2016 5:00 PM ET

A webinar for this FOA will be held on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 2:00 PM MST. Click the link below to register.

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4894436799571452417

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