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By: , , , ,

The U.S. government has galvanized national focus and action on the supply chain vulnerabilities for vital to national security, economic competitiveness and societal well-being. Â鶹´å research shows how strategic alignment in  policy, trade agreements, materials recovery and workforce training is vital for U.S. critical mineral resilience.

Why it matters: America’s strategic economic and military strength depends on reliable access to critical materials for energy storage. Energy storage is central to both civilian and military capabilities. Demand for from clean energy technologies over the next two decades, and .

Key insight: research shows how the supply of critical minerals used to make batteries is highly concentrated and how disruptions in that supply can have far-reaching consequences.

• Concentrated supply: Critical minerals used to make batteries are around the world, and the refining, processing and manufacturing of battery materials is , posing supply chain risks for the U.S. economy and military. Because China dominates multiple stages of the supply chain, if China were to stop exports, of some common battery chemistries could be disrupted.
• Supply disruptions: Realistic supply chain disruption scenarios, such as or natural disasters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, could , including gasoline cars, by more than $1,000 each, costing consumers over $10 billion.

Policy takeaways: Alignment in manufacturing policy, trade partnerships, materials recovery and workforce training can help bolster U.S. critical minerals strength and resiliency.

• Manufacturing policy: , in part because China has heavily invested in and subsidized the industry.
  • But given relatively modest U.S. incentives.
  • In particular, the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry is the , and of the lithium ion battery chemistries with the . But and has invested so much capacity that it is difficult for other nations to compete on cost.
  • Targeted U.S. investment in innovation to improve energy density or in developing U.S. production could be an important part of a national strategy, and .
• Trade partnerships: for emerging materials.
• Materials recovery: While the U.S. does not have all of the critical minerals it needs on its own soil, we can reduce reliance on imports cost effectively by recovering materials from used batteries and repurposing used batteries for second life stationary storage applications. Such strategies could also .
• Workforce training: Investment in U.S. production requires a prepared workforce. Strategic location targeting and workforce training can help , which can be . It can also create pipelines between occupations with declining or threatened employment and growth opportunities.

The bottom line: Energy security is national security. Today, a growing portion of our energy security is dependent on minerals and batteries produced largely in a few locations that include adversaries and unstable nations. The United States has the capacity and the national security imperative to address this by making targeted investments in technology, industry, trade, materials recovery and workforce training.