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Iron Oxide Unearthed: Revolutionizing Phosphorus Recycling and Feeding the World

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Thursday, July 18, 2024

Illustration of phosphorus cleavage from different biomolecules on the surface of natural iron oxide particles. Credit: Aristilde Research Group/Northwestern UniversityNew research reveals that iron oxide in soils can recycle phosphorus from organic matter.A new study by Northwestern University demonstrates that iron oxide minerals in soils can transform organic phosphorus into its inorganic state, challenging the previous belief that only biological enzymes could perform this transformation. This finding is crucial for developing sustainable methods of phosphorus recycling.New Phosphorus Cycling MethodResearchers led by Northwestern University have discovered a new way that nature cycles phosphorus, a finding that uncovers a missing piece of Earth’s puzzling phosphorus cycle.The research will be published today (July 18) in the journal Nature Communications. A critical nutrient for plant growth, phosphorus is a non-negotiable component of fertilizers. Without it, farmers cannot ensure plant health and boost crop yields. Understanding Earth’s phosphorus cycle, therefore, is important for protecting the global food supply.Although organic forms of phosphorus are abundant in soils, plants, and microbes need inorganic phosphorus to spur their own growth. In the organic form, phosphorus is connected to carbon atoms directly or indirectly, using oxygen as a bridge. So, plants and microbes secrete enzymes to break the carbon bond in organic phosphorus to generate bioavailable inorganic phosphorus.Role of Iron Oxide in Phosphorus TransformationWhile current understanding of the phosphorus cycle assumes that only enzymes from plants and microbes drive this transformation, the new Northwestern study shows there is another way. Iron oxide, a naturally occurring mineral in soils and sediments, can perform the reaction that transforms organic phosphorus to generate the inorganic form. Surprisingly, the researchers also found that iron oxide minerals recycle phosphorus at a similar rate as reported for enzymes in soils.“Currently, the main source of phosphorus for fertilizers is from mining,” said Northwestern’s Ludmilla Aristilde, who led the work. “It’s a finite resource that we eventually will run out of. According to some estimates, we might run out in as soon as 50 years or in a couple hundred years. We are looking into ways to leverage nature-based solutions for phosphorus recycling because we cannot have food security without it. But, before we can do that, we need to understand the underlying mechanisms of natural phosphorus recycling. We found that minerals play an important, and previously unknown, role in the process.”An expert in the dynamics of organics in environmental processes, Aristilde is an associate professor of environmental engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. She also is a member of the Center for Synthetic Biology, International Institute for Nanotechnology, and Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. Jade Basinski, a Ph.D. student in Aristilde’s laboratory, is the paper’s first author. Analeise Klein and Wiriya Thongsomboon, former postdoctoral researchers in the laboratory, are contributing authors.Looking Beyond BiologyWhen dead vegetation or microbes decay in the soil, they leave behind a number of nutrients, including DNA and RNA, which are important classes of organic phosphorus. Microbes and living plants use enzymes to cleave phosphorus from nucleotides — structural components in DNA and RNA — in decaying organic matter to make it available as a recycled nutrient. Until now, most researchers assumed using enzymes was nature’s only mechanism for recycling organic phosphorus.Aristilde and her collaborators, however, decided to explore whether another mechanism might be at play.“Findings from field studies on the environmental dynamics of phosphorus suggested to consider mechanisms beyond biology for the transformation of organic phosphorus in sediments,” Aristilde said. “My group began looking at minerals, specifically iron oxides, because they are known to be able to serve as catalysts.”The Case of the Missing PhosphorusIn laboratory experiments, Aristilde and her team studied the fate of phosphorus in soils and sediments containing iron oxide minerals. After running multiple experiments and analyses, researchers found transformation products from the reaction in the solution. But part of the inorganic phosphorus was curiously missing.Because iron oxide is known to trap phosphorus, the team wanted to examine the minerals more closely. To do so, they used a specialized X-ray technique at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource to solve the mystery.“Lo and behold, we found that the phosphorus was clinging to the surface of the iron oxide,” Aristilde said. “Basically, the minerals can recycle phosphorus from DNA and RNA molecules. But not all organic phosphorus is released in the solution because it is stuck to the surface. The X-ray technique allowed us to find that a big fraction of the newly generated inorganic phosphorus was associated with iron oxides.”Otherworldly InsightsAristilde’s team then measured how — and how much — inorganic phosphorus was produced from nucleotides. The researchers discovered that minerals recycle phosphates at a rate comparable to biology.“We did not expect the rates to be so comparable to those reported for soil enzymes,” Aristilde said. “It changes the way we think about how phosphorus is recycled.”Not only will the new information expand the way we think about how phosphorus cycles on our planet, it also can provide insights about our neighboring planets.“Mars is red because it’s full of iron oxides,” Aristilde said. “If there is inorganic phosphorus found to be trapped in them, it is reasonable to ask: ‘Could this phosphorus have an organic origin from life?’”Reference: “Unraveling iron oxides as abiotic catalysts of organic phosphorus recycling in soil and sediment matrices,” 18 July 2024, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47931-zThe study was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (award number DE-SC0021172).

New research reveals that iron oxide in soils can recycle phosphorus from organic matter. A new study by Northwestern University demonstrates that iron oxide minerals...

Phosphorus Cleavage From Different Biomolecules

Illustration of phosphorus cleavage from different biomolecules on the surface of natural iron oxide particles. Credit: Aristilde Research Group/Northwestern University

New research reveals that iron oxide in soils can recycle phosphorus from organic matter.

A new study by Northwestern University demonstrates that iron oxide minerals in soils can transform organic phosphorus into its inorganic state, challenging the previous belief that only biological enzymes could perform this transformation. This finding is crucial for developing sustainable methods of phosphorus recycling.

New Phosphorus Cycling Method

Researchers led by Northwestern University have discovered a new way that nature cycles phosphorus, a finding that uncovers a missing piece of Earth’s puzzling phosphorus cycle.

The research will be published today (July 18) in the journal Nature Communications.

A critical nutrient for plant growth, phosphorus is a non-negotiable component of fertilizers. Without it, farmers cannot ensure plant health and boost crop yields. Understanding Earth’s phosphorus cycle, therefore, is important for protecting the global food supply.

Although organic forms of phosphorus are abundant in soils, plants, and microbes need inorganic phosphorus to spur their own growth. In the organic form, phosphorus is connected to carbon atoms directly or indirectly, using oxygen as a bridge. So, plants and microbes secrete enzymes to break the carbon bond in organic phosphorus to generate bioavailable inorganic phosphorus.

Role of Iron Oxide in Phosphorus Transformation

While current understanding of the phosphorus cycle assumes that only enzymes from plants and microbes drive this transformation, the new Northwestern study shows there is another way. Iron oxide, a naturally occurring mineral in soils and sediments, can perform the reaction that transforms organic phosphorus to generate the inorganic form. Surprisingly, the researchers also found that iron oxide minerals recycle phosphorus at a similar rate as reported for enzymes in soils.

“Currently, the main source of phosphorus for fertilizers is from mining,” said Northwestern’s Ludmilla Aristilde, who led the work. “It’s a finite resource that we eventually will run out of. According to some estimates, we might run out in as soon as 50 years or in a couple hundred years. We are looking into ways to leverage nature-based solutions for phosphorus recycling because we cannot have food security without it. But, before we can do that, we need to understand the underlying mechanisms of natural phosphorus recycling. We found that minerals play an important, and previously unknown, role in the process.”

An expert in the dynamics of organics in environmental processes, Aristilde is an associate professor of environmental engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. She also is a member of the Center for Synthetic Biology, International Institute for Nanotechnology, and Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. Jade Basinski, a Ph.D. student in Aristilde’s laboratory, is the paper’s first author. Analeise Klein and Wiriya Thongsomboon, former postdoctoral researchers in the laboratory, are contributing authors.

Looking Beyond Biology

When dead vegetation or microbes decay in the soil, they leave behind a number of nutrients, including DNA and RNA, which are important classes of organic phosphorus. Microbes and living plants use enzymes to cleave phosphorus from nucleotides — structural components in DNA and RNA — in decaying organic matter to make it available as a recycled nutrient. Until now, most researchers assumed using enzymes was nature’s only mechanism for recycling organic phosphorus.

Aristilde and her collaborators, however, decided to explore whether another mechanism might be at play.

“Findings from field studies on the environmental dynamics of phosphorus suggested to consider mechanisms beyond biology for the transformation of organic phosphorus in sediments,” Aristilde said. “My group began looking at minerals, specifically iron oxides, because they are known to be able to serve as catalysts.”

The Case of the Missing Phosphorus

In laboratory experiments, Aristilde and her team studied the fate of phosphorus in soils and sediments containing iron oxide minerals. After running multiple experiments and analyses, researchers found transformation products from the reaction in the solution. But part of the inorganic phosphorus was curiously missing.

Because iron oxide is known to trap phosphorus, the team wanted to examine the minerals more closely. To do so, they used a specialized X-ray technique at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource to solve the mystery.

“Lo and behold, we found that the phosphorus was clinging to the surface of the iron oxide,” Aristilde said. “Basically, the minerals can recycle phosphorus from DNA and RNA molecules. But not all organic phosphorus is released in the solution because it is stuck to the surface. The X-ray technique allowed us to find that a big fraction of the newly generated inorganic phosphorus was associated with iron oxides.”

Otherworldly Insights

Aristilde’s team then measured how — and how much — inorganic phosphorus was produced from nucleotides. The researchers discovered that minerals recycle phosphates at a rate comparable to biology.

“We did not expect the rates to be so comparable to those reported for soil enzymes,” Aristilde said. “It changes the way we think about how phosphorus is recycled.”

Not only will the new information expand the way we think about how phosphorus cycles on our planet, it also can provide insights about our neighboring planets.

“Mars is red because it’s full of iron oxides,” Aristilde said. “If there is inorganic phosphorus found to be trapped in them, it is reasonable to ask: ‘Could this phosphorus have an organic origin from life?’”

Reference: “Unraveling iron oxides as abiotic catalysts of organic phosphorus recycling in soil and sediment matrices,” 18 July 2024, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47931-z

The study was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (award number DE-SC0021172).

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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The economic case for green steel production at a Michigan steel mill

Dearborn, Michigan, was at the heart of auto industry innovation during the days of the Model T Ford. Now clean energy and environmental justice advocates are proposing that the city play a lead role in greening the auto industry, through a transformation of the Dearborn Works steel mill to “green steel” — a…

Dearborn, Michigan, was at the heart of auto industry innovation during the days of the Model T Ford. Now clean energy and environmental justice advocates are proposing that the city play a lead role in greening the auto industry, through a transformation of the Dearborn Works steel mill to ​“green steel” — a steelmaking process powered by hydrogen and renewable energy with drastically lower emissions than a traditional blast furnace. The blast furnace at Dearborn Works is due for relining in 2027, at an estimated cost of $470 million. Advocates argue that instead of prolonging the blast furnace’s life, its owner, Cleveland Cliffs, should invest another $2 billion dollars and convert the mill to Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) technology powered by green hydrogen (hydrogen produced with renewable energy). 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Worldwide, the auto industry is the second largest consumer of steel after construction, and ​“being able to pass on the price of a ​‘green steel premium’ to its end consumers, the automotive industry is uniquely positioned to create demand for green steel without having to rely on public subsidies,” the European Union think tank CEPS said in a recent publication. “This is a great chance for the state to step in now and ensure this conversion happens, instead of waiting another 20 years,” said Boatman. ​“All the economic indicators suggest clean steel is the steel product of the future, and the best way to future-proof jobs especially in the steel sector and especially for unions.” Cutting pollution, creating jobs  Cleveland Cliffs is planning to convert its Middletown, Ohio, steel mill to DRI, tapping a $500 million federal grant for industrial decarbonization under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. 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The report also found that more than half the people living within a three-mile radius of both the steel mill and coke plant are low-income, and three-quarters of those living around the coke plant are people of color, as are half those living around the steel mill. “The total health costs are quite significant,” said Nick Leonard, executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which is representing local residents as intervenors in the EPA lawsuit against the coke plant. ​“We allow companies to externalize those costs and not account for them. If they were required by some sort of change in policy or regulation to be responsible for those costs, it would certainly make the case they could make this expensive switch” to green steel. The law center also represented residents in legal proceedings around Dearborn Works’ Clean Air Act violations, including a 2015 consent decree and a 2023 mandate to install a new electrostatic precipitator at a cost of $100 million. Leonard said local residents ​“know Cleveland Cliffs poses a risk to their health, and they want solutions. They know there’s a problem — they are frustrated by the lack of will or attention from state and local government.” Cleveland Cliffs did not respond to a request for comment. Why Michigan? The country’s active steel mills are concentrated in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Advocates and residents are asking Nippon Steel to consider a green steel conversion at the Gary Works mill in Northwest Indiana, if the global corporation succeeds in acquiring Gary Works owner U.S. Steel. Advocates have also proposed green steel conversions for Pennsylvania mills.

Energy
Chemicals
Health

Ensuring a durable transition

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To fend off the worst impacts of climate change, “we have to decarbonize, and do it even faster,” said William H. Green, director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and Hoyt C. Hottel Professor, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering, at MITEI’s Annual Research Conference.“But how the heck do we actually achieve this goal when the United States is in the middle of a divisive election campaign, and globally, we’re facing all kinds of geopolitical conflicts, trade protectionism, weather disasters, increasing demand from developing countries building a middle class, and data centers in countries like the U.S.?”Researchers, government officials, and business leaders convened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sept. 25-26 to wrestle with this vexing question at the conference that was themed, “A durable energy transition: How to stay on track in the face of increasing demand and unpredictable obstacles.”“In this room we have a lot of power,” said Green, “if we work together, convey to all of society what we see as real pathways and policies to solve problems, and take collective action.”The critical role of consensus-building in driving the energy transition arose repeatedly in conference sessions, whether the topic involved developing and adopting new technologies, constructing and siting infrastructure, drafting and passing vital energy policies, or attracting and retaining a skilled workforce.Resolving conflictsThere is “blowback and a social cost” in transitioning away from fossil fuels, said Stephen Ansolabehere, the Frank G. 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Yesterday, Massachusetts lawmakers made major moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition the state to clean energy. Legislators approved a long-awaited climate bill that will limit gas pipeline expansion, make it easier to site and build renewables, and allow utilities to use geothermal energy — instead…

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3 Questions: Can we secure a sustainable supply of nickel?

Extraction of nickel, an essential component of clean energy technologies, needs stronger policies to protect local environments and communities, MIT researchers say.

As the world strives to cut back on carbon emissions, demand for minerals and metals needed for clean energy technologies is growing rapidly, sometimes straining existing supply chains and harming local environments. In a new study published today in Joule, Elsa Olivetti, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Decarbonizing Energy and Industry mission within MIT’s Climate Project, along with recent graduates Basuhi Ravi PhD ’23 and Karan Bhuwalka PhD ’24 and nine others, examine the case of nickel, which is an essential element for some electric vehicle batteries and parts of some solar panels and wind turbines.How robust is the supply of this vital metal, and what are the implications of its extraction for the local environments, economies, and communities in the places where it is mined? MIT News asked Olivetti, Ravi, and Bhuwalka to explain their findings.Q: Why is nickel becoming more important in the clean energy economy, and what are some of the potential issues in its supply chain?Olivetti: Nickel is increasingly important for its role in EV batteries, as well as other technologies such as wind and solar. For batteries, high-purity nickel sulfate is a key input to the cathodes of EV batteries, which enables high energy density in batteries and increased driving range for EVs. As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, the demand for EVs, and consequently for nickel, has increased dramatically and is projected to continue to do so.The nickel supply chain for battery-grade nickel sulfate includes mining nickel from ore deposits, processing it to a suitable nickel intermediary, and refining it to nickel sulfate. The potential issues in the supply chain can be broadly described as land use concerns in the mining stage, and emissions concerns in the processing stage. This is obviously oversimplified, but as a basic structure for our inquiry we thought about it this way. Nickel mining is land-intensive, leading to deforestation, displacement of communities, and potential contamination of soil and water resources from mining waste. In the processing step, the use of fossil fuels leads to direct emissions including particulate matter and sulfur oxides. In addition, some emerging processing pathways are particularly energy-intensive, which can double the carbon footprint of nickel-rich batteries compared to the current average.Q: What is Indonesia’s role in the global nickel supply, and what are the consequences of nickel extraction there and in other major supply countries?Ravi: Indonesia plays a critical role in nickel supply, holding the world's largest nickel reserves and supplying nearly half of the globally mined nickel in 2023. The country's nickel production has seen a remarkable tenfold increase since 2016. This production surge has fueled economic growth in some regions, but also brought notable environmental and social impacts to nickel mining and processing areas.Nickel mining expansion in Indonesia has been linked to health impacts due to air pollution in the islands where nickel processing is prominent, as well as deforestation in some of the most biodiversity-rich locations on the planet. Reports of displacement of indigenous communities, land grabbing, water rights issues, and inadequate job quality in and around mines further highlight the social concerns and unequal distribution of burdens and benefits in Indonesia. Similar concerns exist in other major nickel-producing countries, where mining activities can negatively impact the environment, disrupt livelihoods, and exacerbate inequalities.On a global scale, Indonesia’s reliance on coal-based energy for nickel processing, particularly in energy-intensive smelting and leaching of a clay-like material called laterite, results in a high carbon intensity for nickel produced in the region, compared to other major producing regions such as Australia.Q: What role can industry and policymakers play in helping to meet growing demand while improving environmental safety?Bhuwalka: In consuming countries, policies can foster “discerning demand,” which means creating incentives for companies to source nickel from producers that prioritize sustainability. This can be achieved through regulations that establish acceptable environmental footprints for imported materials, such as limits on carbon emissions from nickel production. For example, the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act could be leveraged to promote responsible sourcing. Additionally, governments can use their purchasing power to favor sustainably produced nickel in public procurement, which could influence industry practices and encourage the adoption of sustainability standards.On the supply side, nickel-producing countries like Indonesia can implement policies to mitigate the adverse environmental and social impacts of nickel extraction. This includes strengthening environmental regulations and enforcement to reduce the footprint of mining and processing, potentially through stricter pollution limits and responsible mine waste management. In addition, supporting community engagement, implementing benefit-sharing mechanisms, and investing in cleaner nickel processing technologies are also crucial.Internationally, harmonizing sustainability standards and facilitating capacity building and technology transfer between developed and developing countries can create a level playing field and prevent unsustainable practices. Responsible investment practices by international financial institutions, favoring projects that meet high environmental and social standards, can also contribute to a stable and sustainable nickel supply chain.

Energy
Sustainable
Forests

The Department of Energy wants to pay companies to make greener solar panels

Only six panels on the market meet the government's sustainability standards — but that number could soon grow.

In June, U.S. solar manufacturer Qcells became the second company in the world to register its solar panels with EPEAT, a labeling system that sets sustainability standards for electronics makers. By doing so, the company triggered an obscure regulation that requires federal agencies to purchase EPEAT-certified solar panels. If, say, NASA wants to build a solar farm to power a research facility, it must now purchase panels that meet EPEAT’s strict sustainability requirements — including a first-of-its-kind limit on the carbon emissions tied to solar manufacturing. There’s just one problem: Although EPEAT launched its solar standards in 2019, as of today, there are only six EPEAT-registered solar panels on the global market. And there are currently no EPEAT-registered solar inverters, devices that convert the direct current electricity a solar panel produces to alternating current electricity, which the grid uses. That doesn’t leave a lot of choices for the federal government, or anyone else who wants to purchase sustainably-produced solar equipment. That’s why, in October, the Department of Energy, or DOE, launched a new prize that offers up to $450,000 to U.S.-based solar panel and inverter manufacturers that achieve EPEAT certification for their products. As a new wave of domestic solar manufacturing kicks into high gear, the DOE hopes the prize will ensure that companies use efficient processes, sustainable materials, fair labor practices, and low-carbon energy. “The fact of the matter is, not all solar [products] in their production are created equal,” said Patty Dillon, a vice president at the Global Electronics Council, the sustainable technology nonprofit that manages the EPEAT ecolabel. Solar panels convert the sun’s rays into electricity in a process that emits no greenhouse gases, which makes them essential for fighting climate change. To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency estimates that the world must add 630 gigawatts of new solar power annually by 2030 — up from the 135 gigawatts installed in 2020.  But some solar panels are more climate-friendly than others. Polysilicon, which is used to make the sunlight-harvesting cells inside silicon panels, is made using an energy-intensive process often powered by fossil fuels. The frames that hold solar panels together are made of aluminum, which is typically smelted in China using coal-powered electricity. The manufacturing processes that turn these materials into a solar panel also require energy, which can lead to more emissions. On a global level, the difference between solar panels manufactured using clean energy and those made with fossil fuels could amount to tens of billions of metric tons of carbon pollution by the middle of the 21st century. Workers process aluminum alloy frames for solar panels in Hai’an, China. CFOTO / Future Publishing via Getty Images To minimize those emissions, along with other environmental challenges like the use of toxic chemicals and the disposal of solar e-waste, companies must take a hard look at their supply chains and, in some cases, engage in difficult clean-up work. The DOE’s new prize, “Promoting Registration of Inverters and Modules with Ecolabel,” or PRIME, encourages companies to do so by going through the EPEAT registration process. “EPEAT certification enables companies to show how they have been taking the steps to have more environmentally friendly supply chains and manufacturing processes,” Becca Jones-Albertus, who directs the DOE’s solar energy technologies office, told Grist.  Solar companies seeking EPEAT registration must meet a list of criteria that span four broad themes: climate change, sustainable resource use, hazardous chemicals, and responsible supply chains. Depending on how many standards a manufacturer meets, it can receive an EPEAT Bronze, Silver, or Gold designation.  In addition, as of June, solar manufacturers registered with EPEAT are required to meet the industry’s first-ever criteria for embodied carbon, the emissions generated when a product is produced. For each kilowatt of power produced, no more than 630 kilograms of CO2 can be emitted during the production of an EPEAT-registered solar panel. The limit, Dillon says, represents about 25 percent fewer carbon emissions than the global average. Solar panels that fall below the “ultra low carbon” threshold of 400 kilograms of CO2 per kilowatt of power earn a special EPEAT Climate+ designation.  “That basically represents the best in class,” Dillon said. It’s difficult to make a direct comparison to fossil fuel plants, since most of their emissions come from operations rather than building infrastructure. But other research has found that over their lifespan, solar plants are considerably more climate friendly, emitting roughly 50 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour of energy produced compared with about 1,000 grams per kilowatt-hour for coal.  Meeting EPEAT’s requirements isn’t easy, which might explain why there are only two companies — QCells and the Arizona-based First Solar — currently listed on the registry. And only two solar panels manufactured by First Solar have earned the ecolabel’s Climate+ badge. QCells, which manufactures two EPEAT-registered panels at a factory in Dalton, Georgia, spent about two years going through a “very extensive” certification process that involved collecting data across its supply chain and submitting to a third-party audit, corporate communications lead Debra DeShong told Grist. Arrays of solar cells on conveyor belt at Qcells’ facility in Dalton, Georgia. Dustin Chambers for The Washington Post via Getty Images “It’s not an easy task,” DeShong said. “It requires resources and it requires a will.” Other companies may now be motivated to try. QCells’ additions to the EPEAT registry in June activated the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which requires the federal government to purchase goods that meet standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, except in limited circumstances where it’s impractical to do so. In the case of solar panels, that means EPEAT-registered products. The DOE’s PRIME Prize, which provides U.S. solar manufacturers $50,000 for starting the registration process and up to $100,000 per product for up to four products that complete it, offers additional incentive. Jones-Albertus told Grist that the prize was designed to “roughly offset the cost of collecting all the data and moving through the registration process.” Solar companies “told us that they’re interested in EPEAT certification, but they haven’t gotten there yet,” Jones-Albertus said. “We’re hoping to provide incentives so that companies go through the EPEAT registration process sooner.” Companies peering deep into their supply chains for the first time might discover they have to make some changes to meet EPEAT registration requirements. To slim down the carbon footprint of its panels, a solar manufacturer might have to switch to a low-carbon polysilicon supplier. (QCells, for instance, is purchasing polysilicon from a facility in Washington state that produces the stuff using hydropower.) Or it might decide to swap out virgin aluminum frames manufactured overseas for recycled steel ones built domestically by Origami Solar, a change that can reduce carbon emissions tied to the frame by upwards of 90 percent. To meet EPEAT’s optional recycled content criteria, a manufacturer could decide to start purchasing recycled panel glass from a company like SolarCycle.  Making these sorts of manufacturing supply chain alterations takes time and money beyond what the new DOE prize will provide. But Dillon, of the Global Electronics Council, is optimistic that more companies will start registering their products with EPEAT now that federal purchasers require it. Erik Petersen, the chief strategy officer at Origami Solar, believes the Biden administration’s push for clean domestic manufacturing, combined with growing consumer interest in supply chain transparency, will spur more U.S. solar companies to ensure their products meet high sustainability standards.   “What’s exciting is all of these forces are coming together at the same time,” Petersen told Grist. “That really gives the industry an incentive to do the right things.” This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The Department of Energy wants to pay companies to make greener solar panels on Nov 1, 2024.

Energy
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Climate

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