Report urges action to prevent rare earth metal shortages
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A new report claims that a potential shortage of rare earth metals could hinder the deployment of low-carbon technologies.
The report recommends actions to prevent shortages and allow a smooth implementation of the European Commission’s (EC) Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies.
EC vice-president Antonio Tajani, commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, said: ‘European companies need to have a secure, affordable and undistorted access to raw materials. This is essential for industrial competitiveness, innovation and jobs in Europe.’
Following the commission’s report on critical raw materials at EU level last year, the Joint Research Commission (JRC) has now carried out an in-depth analysis of the use of raw materials — especially metals — in the six priority low-carbon energy technologies of the commission’s SET-Plan: nuclear, solar, wind, bio-energy, carbon capture and storage and electricity grids.
The study — Critical metals in strategic energy technologies — reveals that five metals commonly used in these technologies (neodymium, dysprosium, indium, tellurium and gallium) show a high risk of shortage.
Europe depends on imports for many of these, for which there is rapidly increasing global demand and limited supply, often concentrated in a few countries with associated political risks. Furthermore, they are not easily recyclable or substitutable.
A large-scale deployment of solar-energy technologies, for example, will require half the current world supply of tellurium and 25 per cent of the supply of indium.
The report considers possible strategies to avoid or mitigate a shortage of these metals, including promoting recycling and reuse, and looking into substitution by other, less critical materials. Further measures could be alternative technologies and even increasing Europe’s primary production, for example, by opening new or dormant mines.
Similar studies will be made by the JRC in the near future on other energy technologies that also use strategic metals, such as electric vehicles, electricity storage, lighting and fuel cells.
Readers' comments (2)
Emily Giasone | 14 Nov 2011 9:56 am
FULL DISCLOSURE: I work at The Indium Corporation.
I would like to refute the statement that Indium shows a high risk of shortage and we have to worry about future availability.
Indium containing raw materials exist abundantly worldwide. The metals industry has been investing in process improvements and extraction capacities over the last few years to bring more Indium to the market. The demand for Indium and the improving economics are factors driving steadily increasing extraction output.
Existing mines of Indium-containing ores are dispensed around the globe in terms of geography, political policies and influences. This broad and political dispersion adds to the stability of Indium supply.
Based on mining reserves (100 years at a consumption rate of 500 MT of virgin Indium per year), plus residue reserves (30 years at a rate of 500 MT per year), combined with continued improvements in recoveries of virgin and reclaimed materials, and on-going exploration, the world will not run out of Indium.
Price volatility and short-term availability may continue intermittently due to numerous factors, including the time-lag required to install additional capacity, government regulation, and the lack of information suppliers receive about future demand.
If you are interested in getting more information on the topic of the Indium sustainability you can read 2 papers, one published by the Indium Corporation of America, the other one published by the USGS (United States Geological Survey), that can be reached following the links pasted here below:
1) http://www.indium.com/supply.php
2) http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1300/2004-1300.pdf
Emily Giasone
Metals Manager
Indium Corporation of America
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Sparty | 14 Nov 2011 1:18 pm
If you have an interest in tellurium you need to look at Cudeco's (ASX: CDU) 14/11/2011 ASX announcement that details what they have found at their Wilgar deposit at Cloncurry, Queensland. The grades are amongst the world's highest.
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