17 March 2010 -- A U.S. House of Representatives Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee heard testimony March 16 that the U.S. faces a potentially serious shortage of rare earth metals, without which next-generation renewable energy technology for wind turbines, hybrid vehicles, cell phones and national defense technologies don’t work.
The U.S. House Science and Technology Subcommitee on Investigations and Oversight heard from several experts about the rare earths situation, including Mark Smith, CEO of Molycorp Minerals LLC. Molycorp is the only active producer of rare earths in the Western Hemisphere and is working to re-start production at its Mountain Pass, Calif., facility.
Smith told the Subcommittee that production of rare earths and the metals and magnets that derive from them is dominated by China.
“At present, China produces 97 percent of the world’s rare earth supply, almost 100 percent of the associated metal production, and 80 percent of the rare earth magnets,” he said.
Smith presented the Subcommittee with data showing that Chinese demand for its own rare earths will soon match, if not eclipse, its own internal supply, and with global demand growing at a parallel pace, there is a 60,000 ton production gap that must be filled. Forecasts now predict a shortage for the rest of the world outside of China could occur by 2012.
Rare earth metals are used in the advanced nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that are found in most current model hybrids; rare earth magnets enable next generation wind turbines, electric vehicle motors, and hybrid vehicle motors and generators; and rare earth phosphors illuminate compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Smith told the Subcommittee that while the U.S. still possesses the technical expertise, “we have lost the necessary infrastructure to manufacture the rare earth metals and magnets that fuel next-generation technologies.” He urged them to direct the U.S. Department of Energy to allow rare earth metal and magnet production to be eligible for loan guarantees, saying that this would help speed the restoration of a domestic production and manufacturing capacity in the U.S.