Ames National Laboratory will partner with eight other U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Laboratories to support the Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility recently announced by the DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Ames Lab will lead the Critical Materials Refinery Center, one of four Centers to be established in the Facility.
Critical materials are essential for many clean-energy, defense, transportation, and commercial technologies, and include rare earth metals, lithium, cobalt, and others. High demand, lack of domestic sources and processing, and geopolitical instability can disrupt material supply chains.