CAREER: Enabling clean energy: assessing criticality of byproduct metals

1454166 (Gaustad)。全球对化石燃料的依赖和前所未有的温室气体排放导致人们越来越关注电力生产、能源储存和个人交通的替代方案。然而，尽管各种清洁能源技术有望减轻这些负担，但为了确保新问题不会被旧问题取代，充分了解新清洁能源技术的供应链风险及其材料的重要性至关重要。在理解几种清洁能源技术的重要性方面，一个具体的挑战来自这些材料系统中普遍存在的副产品开采。具体来说，关键材料的开采和生产只是作为另一种材料系统的副产品，在矿物提取和冶金加工文献中历史上也被称为“子采矿”。这些副产品材料系统中的许多都与清洁能源部门有关，因为它们在薄膜光伏电池、风力涡轮机中的磁铁和电动汽车电池中的应用。本研究将集中于三个具有代表性的案例研究：Cu-Te体系、Al-Ga体系和Fe-Nd体系。所开发的系统建模方法框架也可应用于其他副产物材料系统。教育活动的总体目标是为从小学到研究生的学生提供一个管道，这些学生的代表性不足，他们对STEM学科感兴趣。这将通过针对特定年龄组的女性和少数民族学生并让他们参与研究来实现。这项工作的更广泛影响包括：1)通过实现清洁能源技术来减少能源使用对环境的影响，2)促进STEM学科的多样性，3)支持多学科研究，以及4)加强公众、K-12和研究生教育以及对更广泛的可持续性和关键问题的认识。计划具体的公共宣传活动（想象RIT和greenopia）。这笔赠款将为两项K-12教育活动提供资金：通过ACS SEED计划为一名处境不利的高中三年级学生提供研究实习，并为一所中学女生营地展示研究成果（WE@RIT）。研究将集中在副产品开采的供需复杂性和理解影响清洁能源技术的材料系统的总体临界性。动态物料流分析和情景模拟将用于了解副产品开采如何影响供应链。当前的供需建模方法不能包括载流子金属-副产物金属材料系统的相互作用。需求预测和供应预测的结合将用于查明供应缺口开始的条件。这些结果将用于评估动态临界度量。目前的临界度量侧重于物理稀缺性的量化；他们没有考虑到可能由航母系统造成的供应中断。这些衡量标准将发生根本变化，将其扩大到包括经济和环境影响。这些增强的、新颖的指标将用于为政策提供信息，从而激励缓解供应中断问题的战略。

1454166 (Gaustad). Global fossil fuel dependence and unprecedented greenhouse gas emissions have led to increasing attention on alternatives for electricity production, energy storage, and personal transportation. However, while there is promise in a variety of clean energy technologies for reducing these burdens, it is critical to fully comprehend supply chain risks for new clean energy technologies and the criticality of their materials in order to ensure that new issues are not being substituted for old ones. One specific challenge in understanding the criticality of several clean energy technologies arises from the prevalence of byproduct mining in these materials systems. Specifically, key materials are mined and produced only as a byproduct of another material system, also historically referred to as "daughter mining" in minerals extraction and metallurgical processing literature. Many of these byproduct material systems have relevancy to the clean energy sector via their use in thin-film photovoltaics, as magnets in wind turbines, and within batteries for electric vehicles. This research will focus on three representative case studies: the Cu-Te system, the Al-Ga system, and the Fe-Nd system. The systems modeling methodological framework to be developed can be applied to other byproduct material systems as well. The overarching goal of the educational activities is to feed a pipeline from elementary to graduate school with underrepresented students who will have an interest in the STEM disciplines. This will be accomplished by targeting specific age groups of female and minority students and engaging them in research. The broader impacts from this work include: 1) reducing the environmental impacts of energy use by enabling clean energy technologies, 2) promoting diversity in the STEM disciplines, 3) supporting multi-disciplinary research, and 4) enhancing public, K-12, and graduate education and awareness in broader sustainability and criticality issues. Specific public outreach events are planned (Imagine RIT and Greentopia). This grant will provide funding for two K-12 educational activities: a research internship for a disadvantaged high school junior via the ACS SEED program and to demonstrate research findings for a middle school girls camps (WE@RIT). Research will focus on supply-demand complications of byproduct mining and understanding the overall criticality of material systems impacting clean energy technologies. Dynamic material flow analysis and scenario simulation will be used to understand how byproduct mining impacts the supply chain. Current supply-demand modeling methods are unable to include carrier metal-byproduct metal material system interactions. Integration of demand forecasts and supply projections will be used to pinpoint supply gap onset conditions. These results will be used to assess dynamic criticality metrics. Current criticality metrics focus on physical scarcity quantification; they do not take into account supply disruptions that may be caused by the carrier system. A fundamental change in these metrics will be developed by broadening them to include economic and environmental implications as well. These enhanced, novel metrics will be used to inform policy that can incentivize strategies for mitigating supply disruption issues.