U.S. Department of Energy Advances Battery Strategy and $45.5 Million in Critical Minerals Projects

Highlights

• DOE's Battery Manufacturing Accelerator (BattMan), led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, links four national labs with industry to speed commercialization by 2030–2035.
• $29.5 million selected for 17 mining research projects targeting extraction, ore sorting, and mineral recovery, but separation and refining gaps remain.
• Sixteen universities each received $1 million through the PROSPECT program as DOE estimates the U.S. needs 6,000 new mining engineers over the next decade.
• DOE designated helium a critical material, highlighting how domestic resources alone do not guarantee supply security without refining capacity and permitting reform.