Last week I attended the Cleantech Science and Solutions conference in Melbourne. One of the points I took home, is the relevance of rare earth elements for many modern-day applications, particularly with “green” technologies. China is the main supplier of rare earth elements and keeps the export under strict control. Within this context, I noticed the following press release of the US Department of Energy, announcing a Request for Information. The DOE is developing its first-ever strategic plan concerning rare earth metals and other materials in energy components, products and processes. The European Union is developing its strategies as well. More information about Australia and rare earth elements can be found on this web site. Obvious, the importance of this class of elements, its scarcity and recycling after usage are increasingly important.
Rare earth magnets are used in computer hard drives, bicycle dynamos, magnetic levitation trains and high performance magnetic motors. Hitachi announced last year a R&D project on rare earth magnet recycling. The challenge is to recover small amounts from these devices at the lowest cost. The quantity of rare earth metal in some applications is so limited that recovery might not feasible. The concept of Urban Mines or Urban Ores relates this recovery of materials.
Thanks to Jaco Huisman for the link to the HCSS report: Scarcity of Minerals
