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For the past several days, I have been reading about "rare earth elements" and
the control of these metals by China. This evening, I was quietly reclined on
the couch, with my fingers clasped behind my head. Rare earth elements spun around
in my head. Then, as I dozed, came the clear image of...
| The Chinese Finger Trap |
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| Chinese finger trap, aka Chinese finger prison, Chinese finger cuffs, Chinese finger puzzle. |
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By Robert L. Candiotti November 7, 2009
It was at this year's Second Annual International Conference on Energy, Logistics and the Environment
- held in Las Vegas October 23 and 24, 2009 - that I was introduced to rare earth elements.
| Compact fluorescent light photograph by statico |
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| Rare earth element terbium is used in the phosphors of compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). |
John F. Ashburn, Jr.,
Vice President and General Counsel of Molycorp Minerals, gave a presentation about the 15 metals that make up rare
earth elements which, today, are almost completely controlled by the Chinese.
And he also talked about Mountain Pass Mine, located close to Las Vegas (and even closer to Ivanpah Valley), that Molycorp
has purchased and expects to reopen in 2012 to extract significant amounts of rare earth minerals from the mine. Since last month's conference, presented by Global Commerce Forum, I have been reading
about rare earth elements on my own. I have easily recognized that rare earth elements
can be an intriguing topic. Rather oddly, the current relationship between
rare earth elements and the United States' future has caused me to think of the famous Chinese Finger Trap.
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| Toyota Prius automobile |
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| Toyota Prius requires at least 25 pounds of several different rare earth elements. |
The Toyota Prius - launched in Japan in 1997 - has had more than 1 million units sold.
Toyota expects to sell 100,000 Prius cars in just the U.S. in 2009, with 180,000 selling in this country in 2010. Toyota projects
annual sales globally of 1 million Prius models beginning in 2010. It needs to
be noted that just each electric Prius motor is built with 2 to 4 pounds of the rare earth element neodymium.
It is reported that China produces 95 per cent of the world's neodymium. This is what I mean by the Chinese
Finger Trap. The Prius - the top selling hybrid car in the world - for many has represented an escape from foreign petroleum
dependence and a future of much improved gas mileage. We were going to be more free and independent. But if we try and
pull away, our condition, like pulling outward on the Chinese Finger Trap, is going to get tight.
The
Toyota Prius, marketed as a green project with superlative fuel efficiency, is actually heavily dependent on rare earth elements: The hybrid electric motors and generators need not only neodymium,
but also rare earth elements praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. The Prius' headlight glass needs neodymium. The catalytic converter needs cerium, zirconium and lanthanum (22 to 33 pounds of lanthanum alone).
| Neodymium courtesy Popular Science |
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| Neodymium is in every Toyota Prius hybrid electric motor. |
Glass and mirrors of the hybrid
need cerium. And the LCD screen in the car uses rare
earth elements europium, yttrium and cerium. Each and
every Prius, the top selling hybrid car in the world, cannot be built without at least 25 pounds of rare earth elements
(REEs). Prius is marketed as one of the ways the U.S. can move away from foreign dependence and can move toward strengthened
national independence. The reality is, though, that
China currently seems to have rare earth elements production cornered.
The long-term goal of many forward-looking people - including this writer - is significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
and fossil fuel consumption in the United States. Expansion
of clean and renewable energy usage is necessary. Now,
though, thundering into consciousness is the issue of required rare earth elements and the apparently inevitable shortage
of these 15 metals for the major new clean energy technologies.
Reading reveals rare earths mostly revolve around China. The same reading also makes it clear that the futures of China and
the U.S. are inextricably intertwined. Clean energy represents enhanced freedom to the U.S. But the required rare earth elements
bind the U.S. to China. As this
country tries to pull away from carbon emissions, and strives to achieve national independence, the Chinese Finger
Trap tightens. Deng Xiaoping - former leader of the
Communist Party of China - many years ago noted that the Mideast has oil, but China possesses most of the world's rare earth
elements. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
is essentially the keeper of the world's petroleum. China is developing the same approach with the rare earth minerals.
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| Wind turbine by hddod |
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| Permanent magnet generator (PMG) of next generation wind turbines are made from neodymium magnets. |
In a September 1, 2009, New York Times article by Keith Bradsher titled
'China Tightens Grip on Rare Minerals,' it is stated, "China is set to tighten its hammerlock on the market for some
of the world's most obscure but valuable minerals." Over the past three
years, China has significantly reduced the tonnage of REEs that can be exported.
It is reported that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is considering a complete elimination
of exports of several REEs, including terbium, which is used with hybrid electric motors and compact fluorescent lights,
and yttrium, which is used in television and computer glass screens.
EDN.com says on an August 27, 2009, blog, "Some of these metals are currently produced only in China, so if China restricts
or bans their exports, it will affect energy-efficient produced worldwide." The
EDN.com blog continues by stating, "China's intent is not to hold the rest of the world ransom - China needs these
metals for its internal consumption." What is the U.S.
going to do? Right now, this country is importing nearly 100 per cent of its REE needs.
Molycorp Minerals is preparing to reopen in 2012 a rare earth mine in the Southern
California desert named Mountain Pass Mine.
There are a few sites in Canada that show rare earth minerals promise. Other countries that may have worthwhile
REE mining areas are Australia, South Africa, Greenland, Mongolia, Paraguay, New Guinea and Vietnam.
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| Cell phone photo by MyMaSs |
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| Neodymium magnets are important in miniaturization of high-tech applications such as cell phones. |
To be dreamily visited by an image of the Chinese Finger Trap - while thinking about
the dilemma of creating energy saving alternatives as rare earth minerals run low - is certainly a little strange. The U.S. wants to become far more independent, but it has to be concerned about acquiring very limited
rare earth elements that are essential for making cleaner transportation and better energy technology. Ironically, America cannot pull away, just as pulling hands outward on the Chinese Finger
Trap does not work. The U.S. has to maintain a workable relationship with China to acquire as much rare earths as
possible from them, and it must be working closely with the other few areas in the world where rare earths can possibly
be mined. Molycorp Minerals' Mountain
Pass Mine is an important and valuable domestic rare earth repository. But it will not be producing until 2012, and, even
then, it would seem that one mine will not be able to satisfy the nation's vast - and growing - rare earth needs. The U.S. is not going to be successful pulling outward on the Chinese Finger Trap. Rather, the nation
is going to have to work with China. Talking about the Chinese Finger Trap, Wikipedia
says the first reaction when the index fingers are in the bamboo trap "is to pull the fingers outward." But
this does not help. "The more one pulls the more the circumference shrinks." And the fingers are trapped. "The solution to escaping the trap is to push the ends inward toward the middle, which enlarges
the openings," states Wikipedia. Push towards the middle. This
is the key to freedom. Freedom at least for index fingers in the Chinese Finger Trap.
This has been a recounting of my dreamy reverie today about rare earth elements and the Chinese Finger Trap.
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| Image courtesy Wikipedia.org |
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