An analysis of future supply/demand balances
As attention to climate changes is increasing, several countries are implementing green strategies and rapidly switching to clean energy technologies. This leads to an increase of demand for materials used to manufacture key components of such technologies, and the European Commission has already flagged several of them as critical raw materials, which raise concerns on security of supply. An example of critical materials are rare earth elements, which are needed for the manufacturing of permanent magnets for wind turbine generators and electric vehicle motors, as well as for several applications in other fields. Those elements are currently supplied mainly from China, and with demands increasing at a rapid pace there are fears of supply bottlenecks and geopolitical tensions. On the other hand, following the rare earths crisis of the early 2010s, there have been increased efforts in geological exploration and development of alternative technologies, which may mitigate supply risks. This report aims at providing information, data and forecasts which can guide the discussion and put it into context.
ALVES DIAS Patricia;
BOBBA Silvia;
CARRARA Samuel;
PLAZZOTTA Beatrice;
Alves Dias, P., Bobba, S., Carrara, S. and Plazzotta, B., The role of rare earth elements in wind energy and electric mobility, EUR 30488 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2020, ISBN 978-92-76-27016-4, doi:10.2760/303258, JRC122671.
2020-12-16
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC122671
978-92-76-27016-4 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 30488 EN,
OP KJ-NA-30488-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC122671,
10.2760/303258 (online),
