Department of Energy boosts domestic battery supply chain with billions in funding

The Department of Energy (DOE) opened up billions of dollars in funding today to develop up domestic supply chains for batteries. Batteries will be crucial in the Biden administrations plans to transition the nation to electric lorries and clean energy.
The DOE says in its statement that it will give $3.1 billion to companies to increase “the development of new, retrofitted, and broadened commercial facilities” to process products, make batteries, and recycle them at the end of their lives. Another $60 million in grants from the DOE will money efforts to find 2nd uses for old EV batteries. The cash comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed in 2015.
The bigger picture: the Biden administration has actually set quite huge objectives for tidy energy and transportation in the United States. He dedicated the United States, under the Paris climate agreement, to halving its greenhouse gas emissions this years. To do that, the administration wishes to get the power grid to run totally on carbon pollution-free energy by 2035 and ensure that half of all brand-new vehicle sales are hybrid or electric vehicles by the end of the decade.
That type of future depend upon having the battery innovation
That sort of future hinges on having the battery innovation to make electric vehicles more budget-friendly as well as to store wind and solar power so that its readily available when sunshine and winds wane.
Without doing something about it, a DOE analysis in 2015 found that US battery production capability wouldnt be able to satisfy even half of the forecasted need for lithium-ion batteries for electrical lorries in 2028. Right now, battery supply chains are specifically vulnerable due to the fact that theyre concentrated in just a handful of countries. Thats led to allegations of labor abuses, like a lawsuit against Tesla and other companies for the deaths of child workers.
Todays announcement is simply the most current amongst a series of relocations the Biden administration has actually made to get its hands on more (and much better) batteries. In March, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to reinforce domestic mining and the processing of minerals like nickel, lithium, cobalt, graphite, and manganese that are vital for battery-making. Last June, the Department of Energy put out a “nationwide blueprint” for making lithium batteries. All in all, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $7 billion for domestic battery supply chains– from collecting raw materials to making battery cells and recycling them at the end of their lives.

Without taking action, a DOE analysis last year discovered that US battery production capacity would not be able to meet even half of the predicted need for lithium-ion batteries for electrical lorries in 2028. Last June, the Department of Energy put out a “national plan” for making lithium batteries. All in all, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $7 billion for domestic battery supply chains– from collecting raw products to making battery cells and recycling them at the end of their lives.