About the Program

The Energy, Minerals & Materials Program investigates materials supply chain challenges and share findings and recommendations with policymakers and the public alike. Our work spans the periodic table — including elements, minerals and materials key to economic attainment and quality of life — and emphasizes minerals and materials essential to both legacy and alternative energy applications. We include non-defense and defense needs and broader, non-energy industrial uses for overall context and to explore areas of market tension.

Our primary focus is on the elements that are most vulnerable to supply disruption and not easily replaced; their substitutes are difficult and/or expensive to produce and apply. This vulnerable group includes many elements and minerals that may seem widely available but have long histories of supply chain constraints and disruptions. Our ultimate goal is to inform, educate and advise business and policy decision-makers as well as the broader public, especially as new technologies and pursuits push the global energy system envelope.

EMM Roundtables and Events

These discussions and larger events focus on supply chain realization and related commercial, public policy and geopolitical dynamics.

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External Resources and Links

Additional materials are available through U.S. government agencies, universities, and more. 

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External Collaborators

We thrive on collaborations between experts within and beyond Rice University.

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Fellows & Scholars