![]() “Rare earth elements have become the new oil,” an analysis by the US Army concluded in 2019. Each F-35 fighter jet requires more than 400 kilograms of rare earth materials, for example. Less discussed is how rare earth magnets are also crucial for modern weaponry, like laser guided missiles, planes and tanks – exactly the kind of precision equipment being sent to Ukraine by the west. Magnets are therefore central to the plans of European carmakers like Volkswagen, which is competing with the likes of Tesla and Chinese rivals Nio, Xpeng and Li, for the rapidly growing electric vehicle market, estimated to account for a third of all global vehicle sales by 2030. “It’s ridiculously huge amounts,” she said. A single wind turbine can require 400 kilograms. The most common magnet – NdFeB - combines iron, the rare earth metal neodymium, and boron.Įach electric car motor needs about 2 kilograms of rare earth magnets, said Alena Vishina, a materials scientist at Uppsala University. One or more of these elements are then typically combined with the magnetic elements iron, cobalt or nickel, to create powerful alloy magnets that function in extremes of temperature and resist wearing out. China has managed to corner the market though decades of strategic investment in mines and refining facilities, just as the rest of the world was closing mines due to their environmental impact. However, they are dispersed in the earth’s crust, making them difficult and costly to extract. Rare earth is something of a misnomer in that these 17 elements are in fact relatively abundant. “It is true to an extent that we know we are replacing one dependency on oil and gas with a dependency on materials,” warned Rizos. The irony is that Europe is trying to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels through electric vehicles and wind turbines - but these are built using Chinese rare earth magnets. “But this is a momentum that we haven't seen before, fuelled by the gas and oil dependency on Russia,” he said. Such worries in Brussels aren’t new, and stretch back to at least 2008, said Vasileios Rizos, head of sustainable resources and circular economy at the Centre for European Policy Studies. “We are seeing a true global race to source and recycle critical raw materials,” he warned. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred the EU to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas, but when it comes to critical supplies of rare earth materials, European dependence is even more acute: it relies on China for 98% of its supply.Īs the internal market commissioner Thierry Breton blogged earlier this month, “China controls the entire value chain.” ![]() ![]() Europe is set to remain almost entirely dependent on China for the rare earth magnets that are critical to electric vehicles, wind turbines, missiles, fighter jets and consumer electronics well into the 2020s, according to researchers and entrepreneurs trying to find alternative sources. ![]()
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