Impasse

Following the release of a European Commission report on critical raw materials in 2010, scientists at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) highlighted in a new report that five metals, essential for manufacturing low-carbon technologies, show a high risk of shortage. Reasons for this lie in Europe's dependency on imports, increasing global demand, supply concentration and geopolitical issues.

The 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.

It reveals that five metals commonly used in these technologies -- neodymium, dysprosium, indium, tellurium and gallium -- show a high risk of shortage. A large-scale deployment of solar energy technologies, for example, will require half the current world supply of tellurium and 25% of the supply of indium. At the same time, the envisaged deployment of wind energy technology in Europe will require large amounts of neodymium and dysprosium, (about 4% of the current global supply each) for permanent magnet generators.

Almost over 90 percent of rare earths are imported from China which sits on the world's deposits of these. The dilemma for manufacturers the world over will be the same. And considering yesterday's blockbuster report from IEA on the crisis we are sure headed into unless we shuft to low carbon lufetsyle, this is grim news.

Is there a way out? Is energy conservation and using less of limited resources the answer?