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US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on 3 March threw her
support behind mining for two critical minerals—lithium and
cobalt—and for developing substitute materials to meet the
growing demand for energy storage amid supply chain
disruptions.
In her first public talk at CERAWeek at IHS Markit since the US
Senate confirmed her appointment, Granholm said mineral resiliency
is very much on the agenda of the sprawling $35-billion-a-year US
Department of Energy (DOE) that she will oversee.
"The supply chain vulnerabilities that threaten the nation's
ability to manufacture and deploy clean energy technologies is
real, so we are leading this charge to identify the opportunities
to get those minerals as well as substitute those minerals so that
lessens our reliance on it," Granholm said.
The Biden administration has recognized the threats posed by
supply chain disruptions from economic competitors, notably
China.
On 27 February, President Joe Biden issued an executive order, directing all
federal agencies, including DOE, to conduct a 100-day review of the
supply chains for four vital products, including key minerals and
materials that go into manufacturing advanced batteries used in
electric vehicles and energy storage. The order also required each
agency, including DOE, to provide a report on supply chains for the
energy sector industrial base.
"We need to make sure these supply chains are secure and
reliable," Biden said, as he challenged the
agency heads to identify opportunities to ramp up production at
home as well as invest in research and production into
alternatives.
The White House underscored its efforts to secure reliable
supplies of critical minerals in its Interim National Security
Guidance, which was released the same day Granholm spoke at
CERAWeek.
"We will join with like-minded democracies to develop and defend
trusted critical supply chains and technology infrastructure, and
to promote pandemic preparedness and clean energy," the guidance
stated.
Responsible mining
During her CERAWeek talk, Granholm noted that the market for
lithium is cornered by China, and cobalt is extracted by the
Democratic Republic of Congo, which relies on child labor.
"Can we ourselves be able to extract in a responsible way those
critical minerals for our own energy security and put people to
work? I think we can," Granholm said 3 March.
When prompted by IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin to
elaborate on how DOE plans to tackle the problem, Granholm reminded
him that DOE founded and runs the Critical Minerals Institute at its Ames
Laboratory in Iowa. This institute is charged with "reducing our
reliance on rare earth minerals and other materials that are
subject to supply chain disruptions.
She said DOE and the administration have two strategies to deal
with the problem of supply disruptions.
"One is to take advantage of our own supply of critical
minerals, which we have in abundance, and second, to use technology
to research and develop substitute materials so we don't have to
rely on our competitors that, if you will, have been hoarded by our
economic competitors," she added.
When Yergin asked what message she would send to oil and gas
workers who feel they are being left out of the clean energy
economy, Granholm said there are multiple opportunities in the
clean energy sector that are just waiting to be tapped using
existing skills. These include building transmission grids, carbon
dioxide pipelines, mining for rare minerals, extracting geothermal
energy, scaling up carbon capture and storage, and harnessing the
power of hydrogen from natural gas.
"This, particularly growth of clean energy and reduction of
carbon, provides a huge opportunity," she said.
Posted 03 March 2021 by Amena Saiyid, Senior Climate and Energy Research Analyst
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