14 DAY TRIAL // Late last week, the Energy Department in the United States went public with the news that the country was to invest $3 million (roughly €2.2 million) in geothermal energy and in the domestic rare earth elements industry.
More precisely, the Department said that the funding would serve to bring down the cost of geothermal power and up the country's supply of critical materials.
Green Car Congress tells us that, for the time being, most systems designed to harvest geothermal energy need temperatures higher than 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit) in order to function properly.
The $3 million that the United States is now willing to invest in research and development projects will serve to help the country access its low-to-moderate-temperature geothermal resources.
Interestingly enough, the ten feasibility studies and/or applied research and development projects that the Energy Department is looking to fund are supposed to do more than just bring down the cost of geothermal energy production.
Thus, they are supposed to make the most of low-to-moderate-temperature geothermal resources by using them for strategic material or mineral recovery. As detailed in the Department's press release, this initiative is dubbed the Low-Temperature Mineral Recovery Program.
“While geothermal power is an attractive potential source for sustainable energy production, the high heat temperature requirements (typically >150°C) of most geothermal capture systems constrain geographic distribution and economic viability of geothermal energy production,” the Energy Department says.
“By partnering with geothermal and mineral industry stakeholders to develop additional revenue streams from brines, the economic viability of geothermal projects will increase while also allowing for increased geographic diversity of this clean, round-the-clock energy source,” it adds.
Otherwise put, strategic mineral extraction is expected to both optimize the value stream of low-to-moderate-temperature geothermal resources, and provide modern industries with the rare earths and strategic mineral that they need in order to keep up and running.
“Geothermal mining of rare earth and near-critical metals are the focus of this research, with the intent to effectively lower the cost of geothermal energy production while diversifying and stabilizing the supply of critical materials for domestic industries,” the Energy Department stresses.