What Are Critical Minerals and Materials?

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What Are Critical Minerals and Materials?

The Energy Act of 2020 defines a “critical mineral” as:

  • Any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Energy Act of 2020 defines a “critical material” as:

  • Any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy determines:
    • (i) has a high risk of supply chain disruption;
    • and (ii) serves an essential function in one or more energy technologies, including technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy; or
  • A critical mineral, as defined by the Secretary of the Interior.
     
     

How Are Energy Critical Materials Assessed?

In 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a comprehensive assessment of various materials for energy. This assessment looked at potential for supply risk and importance to energy technologies when evaluating each material. Supply risk considers several factors: basic availability; competing technology demand; political, regulatory, and social factors; codependence on other markets; and producer diversity. Importance to energy technologies considers two factors: energy demand and substitutability.

DOE’s assessment is forward-looking, reflects a global scope, is based on energy deployment scenarios, and includes some engineered materials (i.e., not naturally occurring materials such as electrical steel and silicon carbide). The assessment helps to inform DOE’s Critical Minerals and Materials Program and the determination of the Critical Materials List.

The methodology also incorporates material intensity of energy technologies (i.e., quantity of material per component, product, or system), both those currently widely deployed and innovative technologies that may reduce material requirements in the future.
 

What is on the Energy Critical Materials List?

Pursuant to the authority under Section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020, the Secretary of Energy determines the Critical Materials List. This current list includes critical materials for energy, in the Final 2023 Critical Materials List and May 2025 amendment of the Critical Materials List , as well as those critical minerals on the 2025 final list published by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the director of the U.S. Geological Survey.
 

What Are the Elements and Non-Elements of Critical Minerals and Materials?

Periodic table highlighting elements designated as U.S. critical minerals and critical materials.
NON-ELEMENTAL CRITICAL MINERALS (USGS)NON-ELEMENTAL CRITICAL MATERIALS (DOE)
Natural Graphite
Metallurgical Coal
Phosphate
Potash
Synthetic Graphite		Natural Graphite
Metallurgical Coal
Electrical Steel
Silicon Carbide

What Are the Energy Applications of Critical Minerals and Materials?

How Critical is Each Material for the Future of Energy?

The results of the 2023 DOE Critical Materials Assessment are shown in the criticality matrix below.

A matrix chart showing different minerals, assigned as "critical, near critical" and "not critical" classes. The X axis shows supply risk, from low to high, and the Y axis shows importance to energy, from low to high.
Medium-term (2025–2035) criticality matrix