Weaning off Rare Earth Elements

The old proverb goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and is still true today. Rare Earth Elements or REEs are a group of 17 elements that have properties that are extremely useful in the high tech industry. Many science fair projects will use small amounts of these minerals to enhance the capabilities of their working models.

They have uses in solar panels, wind turbines, electric car motors, lithium-ion batteries and missile guiding systems to name a few vital industries. The trouble is that these elements, as the name suggests, are rare. The primary source of supply of these elements was China. They controlled 95% of the global supply for the REEs.

Recently they have decided to reduce the export of the REEs as they need them for domestic projects. This has resulted in a major price hike for all 17 REEs. Nations and industrial firms are scrambling to find alternative sources for them. There is also a lot of science experimentation in progress to try and do without the REEs.

Some science projects in major companies like Toyota and General Electric are dealing with hunting down suitable substitute materials for REES. In the US the Department of Energy has begun 15 research projects that will focus on what the organization calls Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies for Energy or REACT. As said before, necessity is truly the mother of invention.