US releases critical materials list with SiC, gallium and lithi...

As well as rare earth materials for motors in EVs and wind turbines, the 2023 DOE Critical Materials List of energy-specific materials that will be critical and near-critical until 2035 includes lithium, gallium and silicon carbide. The list will inform eligibility for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act 48C and the on-going trade war with China.

The Assessment focuses on key materials with high risk of supply disruption that are integral to clean energy technologies. The final list includes aluminium, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, electrical steel (grain-oriented steel, non-grain-oriented steel, and amorphous steel), fluorine, gallium, iridium, lithium, magnesium, natural graphite, neodymium, nickel, platinum, praseodymium, terbium, silicon, and silicon carbide.

“As our nation continues the transition to a clean energy economy, it is our responsibility to anticipate critical material supply chains needed to manufacture our most promising clean energy generation, transmission, storage and end-use technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, power electronics, lighting, and electric vehicles,” said Alejandro Moreno, Acting Assistant Secretary for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). “Ultimately, identifying and mitigating material criticality now will ensure that a clean energy future is possible for decades to come.”

Because material and technology markets are global, this Critical Materials Assessment features a global scope, placing U.S. domestic interests within that context. For each of the critical materials identified in this Assessment, DOE will develop an integrated strategy to address material-specific risks.

This Assessment is an update of assessments in previous Critical Materials Strategy reports, the first of which was released by DOE in 2010 and builds upon DOE’s February 2022 Clean Energy Supply Chain Reports.

www.energy.gov