New $150 million research center to develop sustainable model for materials production

UC Berkeley will partner with the new Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials to develop a sustainable model for materials production to support the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Rio Tinto will contribute $150 million over 10 years to fund the center, which will be led by Imperial College London and act as a hub for collaboration with leading research institutions worldwide.

The global transition to renewable energy generation, use and storage will require significant growth in the production of steel as well as copper, aluminum, lithium and other critical materials. However, extracting these resources is both energy and water intensive, and it can be damaging to the environment and in conflict with the interests and rights of local and indigenous people. The Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials will foster research programs to transform the way these vital materials are produced, used and recycled, so they are more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.

“Society needs raw materials, and the types of raw materials needed will change as our energy sources shift to renewables. Yet we still don’t fully understand how to supply raw materials in a truly sustainable, socially equitable way,” said Fiona Doyle, UC Berkeley professor emerita of materials science and engineering. “The center plans to change this through transformational research that comprehensively addresses a series of grand challenges associated with the energy transition.”

UC Berkeley, with its unparalleled expertise in computational materials science and a legacy of innovation, is uniquely positioned to help tackle grand challenges related to materials production and discovery. The university’s engineers will contribute their specialized knowledge of geomechanics, hydrology, characterization of flow, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy. And UC Berkeley’s social scientists will work to ensure that materials are extracted and distributed in an equitable and sustainable way that benefits local communities.

The College of Engineering’s Tarek Zohdi, associate dean for research, and Matthew Sherburne, director of international partnerships and principal investigator for this project, will lead the effort for UC Berkeley.

“It is hoped that this partnership develops truly novel, next-generation sustainable methods for critical materials production and recycling that are consistent with the goal of cleaner industries and a more environmentally sensitive world,” said Zohdi.

In addition to UC Berkeley and Imperial College London, the Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials will partner with the University of British Columbia, the Australian National University and the University of the Witwatersrand.