San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A rocky path to a green world
For all its dazzling innovation, technology rests on humble foundations. A string of little known ores and metals make up the insides of smartphones, solar panels and rechargeable batteries. If the world wants to move faster and cleaner, it needs an ample supply of socalled rare earth minerals just as much as slick software and bright ideas.
The substances are everywhere and close to the surface. So far, most of the recoverable deposits are in a province in China, which refines and sells the output. That reality is provoking worries that the supply could be cut off or exorbitantly priced at the whim of Beijing. The push for green tech could stall and the wider economy would suffer as well.
Policymakers here are moving on the problem. But there will need to be research and investment before the U. S. can come up with its own pipeline. Buried in this month’s omnibus stimulus bill is a measure aimed at speeding the path to independence. The idea pushed by Rep. Eric Swalwell, an East Bay Democrat, directs the Department of Energy to map out plans for the domestic development of the minerals such as lithium, titanium and other niche metals. A similar plan is taking shape in the Senate.
The ingredients are indispensable, more so as technology advances. If electric car fleets are to grow, there will need to be more batteries composed of rare earth minerals. Medical equipment, space guidance systems and the specksized brains inside smartphones all need the substances. The Pentagon relies on the materials for precisionguided weapons, armored vehicles and night vision goggles.
Rare earth materials are a collection of some 17 substances with names right out of a chemistry spelling bee. An iPhone needs neodymium for the magnets used in smartphone speakers. Cerium is used to buff phone surfaces during manufacturing and europium is required to generate colors on screens. More familiar names include lithium, graphite and cobalt.
The push for a home country supply has generated resistance. Republicans opposed Swalwell’s plan in the past, saying it intruded on private industry with unwanted regulation. Also, some Democrats were concerned about environmental damage that might occur if rare earth mining went too far. Better to recycle older electronics for the materials than dig up a new supply, the objections went. New leadership at the federal energy agency under the Biden administration will need to reconcile these objections.
But the strategic side of the issue is undeniable. Some 80% of rare earth minerals comes from China, making for a choke point. In the heyday of globalization when nations felt free to rely on the world market, there was less reason to fret about a single source supply. This country’s worsening relations with Beijing have changed the picture.
“I don’t consider China an ally country,” Swalwell said.
There’s a good chance this country could make up for lost time. The value of the minerals was first established during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. Inactive mines exist, dotted around the country including California. China took the lead as costs rose here, a financial advantage that gave that nation the market. It also lined up mining rights elsewhere around the globe to give it a tight grip, much like Middle East oil countries once had on petroleum supplies.
Now that the need has exploded, it’s time to find other sources. Europe, Canada and Australia are developing and investing in rare earth sources. But this nation still needs to come up with its own supply. That’s where federal research can help. The market is already moving on its own, though extra encouragement is needed.
“It is a greater vulnerability, I believe, than we once had when it came to our need for oil and resources to power ourselves,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who heads the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
The economy, national security and technology’s future all hinge on reliable access to these vital minerals. Washington should make sure that a steady supply is assured.