The Key Role of Rare Earth Metals in Renewable Energy

Renewable wind, solar, tidal and electric energy must be rapidly developed to accelerate our move away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, however, many technologies that generate these forms of power rely heavily on rare earth metals to operate effectively; and their supplies have become increasingly concentrated in China.

Policies encouraging innovation in motor designs using sustainable materials and scalable recycling of REEs are of critical importance, and Energy Fuels Inc possesses all of the technical know-how, licenses and capacity to bring this supply chain back home.

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1. Neodymium

Neodymium, alongside dysprosium and praseodymium, is an essential element for magnets used to power wind turbines and electric vehicles. Each 3MW direct drive wind turbine requires 2 tons of rare earth permanent magnets - and demand is expected to skyrocket as renewable energy penetration rises.

Lithium and cobalt do not qualify as rare earth elements due to their higher concentration in nature; they must therefore be mined from REE-rich mineral deposits for commercial use, creating significant environmental concerns through energy intensive extraction methods that also produce toxic waste products.

2. Dysprosium

Like its rare earth counterparts, dysprosium is an integral component of magnets used in hybrid cars and wind turbines. Alongside holmium, dysprosium has the highest magnetic qualities among the lanthanides.

Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran first isolated graphite in 1886, although pure samples weren't possible to isolate until the advent of ion exchange and metallographic reduction techniques in the 1950s. Hence its name "dysprositos," or inaccessibility in Greek.

Commercially, dysprosium is extracted from other rare earth elements using liquid-liquid extraction or ion exchange techniques. Its source minerals include monazite and bastnasite which have high rare earth concentrations mined for commercial reasons.

3. Terbium

Terbium alloyed with neodymium and dysprosium produces strong magnets used in electric motors of hybrid cars, wind turbines and power stations. Additionally it can be added to calcium fluoride, tungstate and strontium molybdate materials so as to be doped at elevated temperatures for use in solid state devices.

In its oxide form, sodium terbium borate can be found in green phosphors for color television tubes and monitor cathode-ray tubes as well as low energy lamps. Furthermore, sodium terbium borate laser devices make use of it, while it's found naturally within rare earth minerals such as xenotime, monazite, bastnaesite as well as nuclear fission products of yttrium.

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4. Europium

Europium is an extremely reactive rare earth metal and the most reactive rare earth element (REE). It quickly oxidizes in air, so similar to other REEs it must be stored below an inert fluid to prevent its exposure to atmospheric oxygen and moisture. Europium was first discovered by Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran who extracted basic fractions from samarium-gadolinium concentrates in 1890; Eugene-Anatole Demarcay later isolated a reasonably pure form that year; bastnasite and monazite minerals contain it.

Mining for these and other energy transition minerals produces large quantities of toxic waste that must be safely disposed of in ponds which often leak and pollute nearby water resources. Production concentration is high with three countries producing half of global output.

5. Gadolinium

Gadolinium is a soft silvery metal belonging to the Lanthanide group on the periodic table. It is malleable, making it easy to hammer or roll thin sheets. Furthermore, its metallic sheen shines brightly against corrosion.

Ferromagnetic elements and rare earth elements with the highest magnetic movement. This is because their 7 4f electrons are organized in an inert half-filled shell structure.

Scientists have recently discovered that adding gadolinium to perovskites can significantly enhance their dry conductivity, providing greater hydrogen energy storage capabilities while decreasing carbon emissions. This would enable more effective hydrogen energy storage solutions and thereby decrease carbon emissions.

6. Samarium

Samarium (atomic number 62), one of the f-block elements (lanthanides) found in the periodic table, was first isolated by Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1879 and named after its source mineral: samarskite.

Rare Earth metals such as Samarium-Cobalt Magnets. Additionally, it is sometimes combined with rare earth metals such as Neodymium and Europium to form these magnets, used in lasers, special glassware and as catalysts in alcohol production processes.

China currently produces over 80% of rare earth minerals worldwide and has been accused of restricting exports in order to control prices (Bloomberg 2022), prompting concerns regarding dependency.

7. Holmium

Holmium, named after Stockholm where it was discovered in 1879 by chemist Per Theodor Cleve, is used to produce powerful magnets which are required in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and energy storage systems.

Like with other minerals, REE extraction causes environmental and health impacts. Mining operations require high energy inputs and produce toxic by-products; recovering electronic waste also exposes users to these metals, leading to chemical burns or stunted development in children (see Reuters 2019).

As renewable technologies increase rapidly in adoption and their associated materials and minerals demand increases rapidly, their supply may threaten to outstrip supply. Governments can play an essential role in supporting diversified sources of new supply to meet this demand.

8. Erbium

Erbium is a soft silvery metal with low melting and boiling points that doesn't react with air or water, providing low melting and boiling points and sharp absorption spectra in visible, ultraviolet, infrared light wavelengths for lasers and optical amplifiers. Erbium's ions have excellent laser absorption spectra in all three wavelengths making them useful in lasers and amplifiers as well. Furthermore, this metal's magnetic properties change depending on temperature: below -425F it becomes ferromagnetically charged while above that point it becomes paramagnetic; rose colored salts exist as well.

Carl Mosander first isolated the lanthanide oxides yttria and erbia from gadolinite mineral in 1843. Today, erbium can be extracted using ion exchange processes from minerals like xenotime and euxenite; demand for rare earth elements such as neodymium and dysprosium continues to increase due to increased use in wind turbines and electric vehicles.

9. Ytterbium

Ytterbium, a soft silvery metal, can be found with other rare earth elements in minerals like gadolinite, monazite, euxenite and xenotime. Its +3 oxidation state forms white salts and oxides. Although ytterbium can be difficult to separate from its sister rare earth elements using traditional methods alone, modern technologies such as ion exchange and solvent extraction techniques have greatly simplified this separation process.

Rare earths play an essential role in modern technology-fueled societies, yet even the finest rare earths can reach their limit; pure neodymium easily fractures above 80 degrees Celsius, thus forcing manufacturers to alloy these elements with other metals in order to increase durability.