Clean energy requires securing access to critical materials, DOE warns

DEC 15, 2010

Physics Today

New York Times : The US Department of Energy released a report today that examines the extent to which the development and use of clean energy in the US depends on access to rare earths and other critical materials, some of which are produced abroad. The report’s main conclusions, quoted from the executive summary, are that

Several clean energy technologies—including wind turbines, electric vehicles, photovoltaic cells and fluorescent lighting—use materials at risk of supply disruptions in the short term. Those risks will generally decrease in the medium and long term.
Clean energy technologies currently constitute about 20 percent of global consumption of critical materials. As clean energy technologies are deployed more widely in the decades ahead, their share of global consumption of critical materials will likely grow.
Of the materials analyzed, five rare earth metals (dysprosium, neodymium, terbium,europium and yttrium), as well as indium, are assessed as most critical in the short term. For this purpose, “criticality” is a measure that combines importance to the clean energy economy and risk of supply disruption.
Sound policies and strategic investments can reduce the risk of supply disruptions, especially in the medium and long term.
Data with respect to many of the issues considered in this report are sparse.

In a news story about the report, the New York Times‘s Keith Bradsher points out that China produces more than 90% of the world’s rare earths. As if to underscore its hold on the rare-earth market, China announced yesterday that it would raise export taxes on some rare earths next year.