Even the small amount of rare earths still mined in the US is shipped to China for processing. But this over-reliance on one country is starting to raise concerns. She adds that China is adjusting and rationalising its maturing industry and, for environmental reasons, starting to outsource mining. The Chinese government has already dispatched geologists to South-East Asia and Africa to help find rare earth metals. China is also keen to build up the higher-value processing of rare earths and the manufacturing of components that use them.
If there ever was a situation in which it should be attractive to use it, it should be this trade war. The West is looking at developing more of its own mines and processing, with companies from the US, Canada and Australia considering investing. Moores of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence stresses that it takes much time and money to develop an industry. The rare earths supply could, in theory, be increased by urban mining, recovering materials from used products.
Rare earths are being recycled, but the industry is still in its infancy and prices of rare earths have not been high enough to prompt much urban mining. Recycling initiatives are under way, too, in Europe, the US and Japan, but it will take time before this material is available on the market, says the consultancy.
The scope for innovation is often greater than people think, he says, citing the massive advances in solar and wind power over the last decade. Wind Energy. Companies in Europe and the US are working to decrease their dependence on these elements and reduce the potential risk of price rises and shortages.
Earlier this year, China — which dominates the mining and processing of rare earths — suggested the elements could be brought into its trade disputes with Washington.
Even so, in its forthcoming research note on rare earths WindEurope recommends the industry should take further action to improve the sustainability of the supply chain. That will have a cost, of course, eating into already tight margins. Nevertheless, it is an issue an industry that prides itself on its green credentials cannot afford to ignore.
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Measuring a flat, open desert for its generating potential is straight forward. Throw in a mountain, some lakes and a forest — it gets a whole more complicated. But it's not impossible…. The background Rare earth elements REEs are minerals found in relative abundance across the globe.
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Seren Technologies Limited has developed a technology that recycles permanent magnets. But the current state of the market represents a threat to the future of direct drive wind turbines for a number of reasons. Firstly, the mining practice of rare earth metals creates toxic and radioactive waste almost ton for ton, causing an environment hazard in China and the surrounding region. Environmental regulations are not as strict in China as they are in the United States or Europe, which has, at least for a time, made it possible for China to produce these metals at a much lower cost compared to the rest of the world.
Four years on, China is now making concerted efforts to address the environmental impact, but with demand for rare earths from the rest of the world being so high, the country is faced with an enormous challenge.
Approximately one-third of wind turbines globally use direct drive systems, with each turbine holding up to 1 metric-ton 2, lbs of permanent magnets. The precedent so far has been for these magnets to be recycled with ferrous metals, resulting in the rare earth elements being lost and irretrievable. Earlier this year, China reduced its exports of rare earth metals causing the price to surge exponentially. And in the current trade war between China and the West, this scenario is likely to repeat soon.
The name is slightly misleading because they are not actually rare per se ; in fact, they are relatively abundant. Their rarity lies in the fact that they are only found in low concentrations in remote parts of the world, such as Inner Mongolia, and are both hazardous and costly to process. Until recent media coverage of rare earths in the context of the U.
They have made technology lighter, smaller and more powerful than ever before, and are vital components in thousands of technological applications from flat screen televisions, tablets and smartphones to military defense systems such as radar and sonar. Without rare earth metals, there would be no permanent magnets for the direct drive wind turbines, and herein lies the current loop that the West finds itself in.
But Seren Technologies Limited has made steps toward a more economically and environmentally sustainable pathway as it prepares to commercialize its technology.
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