As hybrid cars gobble RARE metals, shortage looms
Trading oil "addiction" for an "addiction" to neodymium, terbium, dysprosium, and lanthanum.
Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:03am EDT
* Hybrid motors, batteries big users of RARE earth metals
* As output of hybrid cars climbs, supply crunch looms
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle RARE earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods.
That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant RARE EARTHS producer, limits exports while global demand swells.
Worldwide demand for RARE EARTHS, covering 15 entries on the periodic table of elements, is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 tonnes annually in several years unless major new production sources are developed. One promising U.S. source is a RARE EARTHS mine slated to reopen in California by 2012.
Among the RARE EARTHS that would be most affected in a shortage is neodymium, the key component of an alloy used to make the high-power, lightweight magnets for electric motors of hybrid cars, such as the Prius, Honda Insight and Ford Focus, as well as in generators for wind turbines.
Close cousins terbium and dysprosium are added in smaller amounts to the alloy to preserve neodymium's magnetic properties at high temperatures. Yet another RARE earth metal, lanthanum, is a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries.
Production of both hybrids cars and wind turbines is expected to climb sharply amid the clamor for cleaner transportation and energy alternatives that reduce dependence on fossil fuels blamed for global climate change.
Toyota has 70 percent of the U.S. market for vehicles powered by a combination of an internal-combustion engine and electric motor. The Prius is its No. 1 hybrid seller.
Jack Lifton, an independent commodities consultant and strategic metals expert, calls the Prius "the biggest user of RARE EARTHS of any object in the world."
Each electric Prius motor requires 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of neodymium, and each battery uses 10 to 15 kg (22-33 lb) of lanthanum. That number will nearly double under Toyota's plans to boost the car's fuel economy, he said.
Toyota plans to sell 100,000 Prius cars in the United States alone for 2009, and 180,000 next year. The company forecasts sales of 1 million units per year starting in 2010.
As China's industries begin to consume most of its own RARE earth production, Toyota and other companies are seeking to secure reliable reserves for themselves.
Reuters reported last year that Japanese firms are showing strong interest in a Canadian RARE earth site under development at Thor Lake in the Northwest Territories.
A Toyota spokeswoman in Los Angeles said the automaker would not comment on its resource development plans. But media accounts and industry blogs have reported recently that Toyota has looked at RARE earth possibilities in Canada and Vietnam. (Editing by Alan Elsner and Mary Milliken)
reuters.com
America's New Energy Dependency: China's Metals
Forget about developing a big alternative energy industry not dependent on China.
A clean-energy economy needs rare-earth metals to succeed. China has a near monopoly
By Kent Garber
Posted July 1, 2009
In 2007, a standoff unfolded between China and several American companies, including W.R. Grace, a major supplier of oil refining products. China was threatening to withhold supplies that keep refiners in business.
A worried State Department intervened. By then, W.R. Grace had only a three-month supply of the special metals it needs for its refining products. Because the metals come almost exclusively from China, if the government had not acted, sources say, oil refineries could have been forced to shut down, possibly triggering shortages across the country.
The metals W.R. Grace needed belong to a group known as "RARE EARTHS." They are the backbone of the Information Age and, potentially, the clean energy future. They are in iPods, Blackberrys, and plasma TVs. They are powerful and compact; they are exceedingly efficient. In many cases, there are no substitutes. On the periodic table, they have their own section, 17 metals in all, reflecting their unique atomic structure.
Fifty years ago, the world's economy was built on steel, aluminum, and iron. Today, rare-earth metals are reshaping it. But they are not easy to acquire, not anymore. In the 1970s and 1980s, the United States was the world's leading producer. Today, China provides nearly 97 percent of the world's supply. It has a near monopoly, and it is cutting exports.
Dominance. The strategic implications of this growing imbalance are vast, particularly for defense and energy. Wind turbines and electric cars have become clean energy symbols, but they are merely final products, the visible results of a supply chain that spans international borders and, for the most part, is largely overlooked by policymakers. At the bottom of this chain, at its most basic level, are rare-earth metals mined from the Earth's crust and made into magnets or other parts, then put into motors or batteries.
China's dominance in this arena, and its displacement of American leadership, are not accidental. In 1992, Deng Xiaoping, then the country's most powerful politician, outlined a plan. "The Middle East has oil; we have RARE EARTHS," he said. "We must develop these RARE EARTHS." Today this phrase is emblazoned, like a campaign slogan, across the roof of at least one Chinese factory.
Deng's call to arms has been carried out nearly flawlessly. China dominates the world market and in recent months has taken control of mines in Brazil and Australia, thereby eliminating potential competitors. It is poised to do with RARE EARTHS what the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has done with oil: make the world dependent. In 2002, China exported about 60,000 tons of rare-earth metals. In 2008, it exported about 45,000 tons. In 2009, based upon preliminary estimates, that will drop into the 30,000s.
The slide will most likely continue, with potentially serious implications for President Obama's energy goals. In 2008, an Australian analyst named Dudley Kingsnorth released a report in which he calculated that China's rare-earth supplies could become off limits to the world as early as 2012. The severity of Kingsnorth's projection has been questioned by some, and the global recession has probably pushed the date back a few years. But the general trend holds. Resource production is limited, and China's internal demand is soaring, fueled by consumers and new energy ambitions. Within five years, China wants to be the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines and electric batteries.
Global demand for rare-earth metals, meanwhile, is expected to grow at least 10 percent annually. If no new mines open, the scenarios are daunting. At best, if China continues exporting, global prices seem sure to rise. At worst, the West could be shut off altogether, left scrambling to find new sources of these metals for turbines, batteries, and other parts. "The very basic question is 'Are we going to trade dependence on Mideast oil for Chinese RARE earths?' " says Jeff Green, a lobbyist who specializes in metals. "I think the answer is 'Probably.' "
.....
usnews.com
Hybrids, EVs More Dangerous to U.S. Security Than Foreign Oil, Says Expert
Jason Mick (Blog) - April 19, 2010 11:31 AM
Robert Bryce accuses neoconservatives of spreading disinformation about oil and pushing America to embrace electric vehicles prematurely. EVs rely heavily on rare-earth metals, which he points out are currently controlled by China. A switch to electric would be far more dangerous to U.S. security than remaining on oil he believes. (Source: Edmunds.com)
The Toyota Prius is packed full of expensive rare-earth metals. Rare-earth metals are almost entirely produced in China. (Source: Edmunds.com)Is the Prius supporting an oppressive communist regime?
A switch to electric may be far more dangerous to U.S. security than remaining on foreign oil, argued one expert at a recent summit.
The electric vehicle movement may move mankind away from relying on one scarce resource, but into relying on another, believes Robert Bryce, author of "Power Hungry: The Myths of 'Green' Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future" (PublicAffairs; 2010). Bryce addressed journalists at the 2010 Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar in La Jolla, California detailing the industry's growing addiction to RARE earth metals.
Most electric vehicles and hybrids heavily rely on a series of elements called the lanthanides, which rarely occur on Earth, and thus are aptly nicknamed "rare-earth metals". The Toyota Prius, the world's most popular hybrid, for example, uses 2.2 pounds of neodymium and about 22 pounds of lanthanum, in addition to cerium, yttrium, and zirconium.
Early fears about the electric vehicle industry focused on its reliance on lithium. Fortunately, recent surveys have indicated lithium stocks to be more extensive than previously thought. However, rare-earth metals are fast emerging as a more serious concern.
Competition is tight for the RARE compounds. Neodymium is used heavily in wind turbine magnets, and other RARE earth elements are used in solar panels and computers.
One headache for the U.S. is not only that the elements are so scarce, but where they primarily come from. According to an April 1 report, China by the Government Accounting Office, entitled "RARE Earth Materials in the Defense Supply Chain", states, "Most RARE earth material processing now occurs in China. In 2009, China produced about 97 percent of RARE earth oxides."
When it comes to production sources, there is some hope in the near future, says Bryce. The U.S. does have substantial rare-earth reserves of its own, but it just hasn't exploited them. The GAO believes that by 2014 the U.S. will be heavily mining these deposits. Bryce isn't so convinced. He states, "At the moment, the only hope for the United States when it comes to domestic lanthanide production appears to be Molycorp Minerals, which owns America's only operable rare-EARTHS mine."
That mine has switched ownership several times, making its future seem in doubt. Meanwhile, other deposits would require new mines, a massive investment, and which would damage the environment -- a concern for those advocating EVs from a "green" perspective.
Meanwhile China is doing its best to remain in control of this increasingly valuable resource. It's focusing its academic efforts on the field of rare-earth metal processing. It also has banned foreign investment in rare-earth metal mining and has raised taxes on rare-earth metal exports.
Bryce accuses "neoconservatives" of spreading alarmism about petroleum. He states, "Though it's true that the Saudis are influential, they only control about 10 percent of daily world oil production. These same neoconservatives hate OPEC - but OPEC only controls about one-third of world oil production."
He points out that the U.S.'s top three foreign oil sources in January were Canada (1.882 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.033 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (0.996 million barrels per day). Of these nations, only Nigeria is a member of OPEC.
He says that there may be enough rare-earth metals to eventually sustain a switch to electric vehicles, but that the world economy currently isn't ready for it. And a premature switch could hand even greater world dominance to a growing nation whose human rights violations and lawlessness are considered by many to be a serious threat, he says.
dailytech.com
Site with info on various rare earths and rare metals:
Rare Earth Elements (REE)
Cerium
Dysprosium
Erbium
Europium
Gadolinium
Holmium
Lanthanum
Lutetium
Neodymium
Praseodymium
Promethium
Samarium
Scandium
Terbium
Thulium
Ytterbium
Yttrium
avalonraremetals.com
Other Rare Metals
Beryllium
Cesium
Gallium
Germanium
Hafnium
Indium
Lithium
Niobium
Rubidium
Tantalum
Tin
Zirconium
avalonraremetals.com
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