Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) announced the establishment of the Division of Minerals Sustainability. The new Division is focused on securing a U.S. minerals supply chain that will support domestic clean energy manufacturing and the transformation of the U.S. energy system to make it cleaner, more resilient, and more secure.

These minerals are essential to emerging technologies, including next generation nuclear, renewables, net-negative carbon technologies, batteries, and electric vehicles. The Division of Minerals Sustainability will provide research and development and applied engineering of critical minerals and rare earth elements to support our National defense, our domestic manufacturers, and the U.S. economy.

This new Division will report to FE's Office of Clean Coal and Carbon Management. It will collaborate with other federal agencies to address issues of critical minerals sustainability for energy, commerce, and defense.

To learn more about the Office of Clean Coal and Carbon Management, visit Fossil Energy's website.

In early November, FE, in collaboration with The Pennsylvania State University, announced the release of a significant new report, Cobalt Production in Pennsylvania: Context and Opportunities. The report highlights Pennsylvania coal and associated materials as a resource for cobalt.

Cobalt is defined by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a critical mineral. It has multiple uses that are vitally important to U.S. national security, including rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and a wide variety of electronic devices, magnets, and superalloys for gas turbine and jet engine applications.

The report underscores a new opportunity to re-establish cobalt and other critical minerals production in Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. In addition to boosting economic growth and job creation in the region, cobalt production would help create a sustainable domestic minerals industry in the United States.

Read the report here.

FE issued a Notice of Intent for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) expected to support projects facilitating the design, construction, and operation of engineering-scale prototypes of water treatment technologies for the Nation’s existing and future fleet of thermoelectric power plants.

Identifying and treating alternative water sources, such as effluent streams, will support DOE’s Water Security Grand Challenge Goal 3: “Achieve near-zero water impact for new thermoelectric power plants and significantly lower freshwater use intensity within the existing fleet.”

Under DE-FOA-0002399 (Water Management for Thermal Power Generation), it is envisioned that fossil asset owners, operators, and technology developers will collaborate to develop engineering-scale prototypes of water treatment technologies. These technologies could help drive near-term water treatment solutions toward commercial deployment.

Read more.