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Principal Uses of Rare Earth Elements

HYBRID AND ELECTRIC
VEHICLES		 ENERGY EFFICIENCY GAINS
REDUCE HYDROCARBON CONSUMPTION		 Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb
Hybrid and electric cars (eg, Toyota Prius) reduce hydrocarbon consumption requirements by replacing or supplementing a traditional internal combustion engine, with a battery-powered electric traction drive. REE’s are consumed within the nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) battery, the electric traction motor, and regenerative braking system.A typical hybrid vehicle contains approximately 28 kgs of REE. Many forecasts for hybrid vehicles show rapid growth rates, up to 60% per annum. Booz Allen Hamilton has forecast hybrid vehicle sales could reach 20% of North American new car sales by 2010, or 4 million units, greatly increasing consumption of Rare Earth Elements.

For more information, see www.hybridcars.com.
CATALYTIC CONVERTERS GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY Ce, La
Automotive catalytic converters transforms the primary pollutants in engine exhaust gases into non-toxic compounds.  Rare Earth Element coatings on the catalyst surface play a critical role in the chemical reactions within a catalytic converter whereby CO and ozone are oxidized to CO2 and O2.   REE’s also enable reactions to be run at high temperatures where efficiency is gained, at a significantly lower cost than Pt metal group alternatives.
WIND POWER GENERATORS REDUCE HYDROCARBON CONSUMPTION
GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY		 Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb
Wind power generation provides a clean alternative to hydrocarbon fuels,  and  assist in reducing the output of greenhouse gas emissions.  New wind power generator designs are larger (up to 7 megawatt) by the inclusion of REE magnets enabling gearless generators for better reliability and online performance.  Large wind turbine-generators units require 2 tonnes of high strength magnets, which contain approximately 30% REE.Designs exist for wind turbines to be built  with batteries installed to allow stable power output.  Such designs greatly increase REE consumption in this important green technology.
COMPACT FLUORENCENT LAMPS, LED’s ENERGY EFFICIENCY GAINS
HIGH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS		 Y, Eu, Tb
Energy efficient lighting is a major application of Rare Earth  Element compounds known as phosphors.  A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) uses only 30% of the power needed to produce the same light as the standard incandescent light bulb.  REE phosphors provide the ability to match color and brightness.

Light-emitting diodes (LED’s) present many advantages over incandescent and CFL light sources including lower energy consumption, longer life, improved robustness, smaller size, faster switching, and greater durability and reliability.  Phosphor based LED’s have an expected life of 50,000 hours and some are sold with five-year warranties.  LED market value was approx. $4.6 billion in 2007, and expected to be more than $11 billion in 2012.

Government policy shifts to ban incandescent lighting is gaining momentum in the developed world.  A significant increase in Heavy Rare Earth  Element consumption is  anticipated in line with this move to CFL and LED lighting.
HARD DISK DRIVES HIGH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb
Rare Earth Element permanent magnets are installed in all computer hard drives, CD-ROM drives and DVDs. the voice coil motor controls the arm that reads and writes information onto the disk and a Rare Earth magnet gives better control allowing thinner tracks and more information storage. More stable spinning is achieved with a Rare Earth magnet driving the spindle of the disk drive.
FLAT PANEL DISPLAY SCREENS HIGH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS Y, Eu, Tb, Gd, Pr, Ce
Cathode ray tube (CRT) and plasma televisions as well as computer monitors are coated with phosphors which when subject to low pressure UV excitation generate the primary colours red, blue, and green. Red colors require phosphors of the Rare Earth Element europium, for which there is no alternative.  The introduction of plasma televisions saw the development of a new blue europium phosphor that retains brightness ten times longer than previous blue phosphors.  Phosphors generating the colour green are doped with the Rare Earth Element terbium.  A combination of these primary colour phosphors are used to create the white ‘backlight’ used in LCD screens and the energy efficient ‘tri-phosphor’ light bulbs.

Flat screen and plasma televisions provide a new and growing field of consumption of HREE’s, the traditional supply of which is extremely restricted and concentrated within China.

In addition to the consumption of REE’s in phosphors, cerium oxide, through its unique physical and chemical properties, has been the building block upon which glass polishing has been based for over 40 years.  It is a very efficient polishing compound as it removes glass both by its chemical dissolution and by mechanical abrasion.

Polishing powders are used to polish cathode ray tubes (CRT), plasma (PDP) and liquid crystal display (LCD) glass, along with many other circumstances where highly polished glass is required.
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS HIGH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb, Y, Eu
Rare Earth Elements play a key role wide range of health and medical applications, including drug treatments, diagnostic techniques and equipment.  REE’s act as catalysts in biomedical and chemical research, are used as tracing agents during imaging, and in laser and radioisotopic treatment for cancer.

The largest single use of Rare Earth Elements in the medical industry is the incorporation of REE permanent magnets to generate high strength magnetic fields for MRI imaging.  700 kg of magnets are consumed in each MRI machine, which are playing an increased and growing role in routine diagnostics.  REE permanent magnets are replacing expensive traditional systems of wire coils in liquid helium, where the helium super cooled the wire coil to reduces the electrical resistance.
PORTABLE ELECTRONICS AND
SMALL MOTORS		 HIGH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb, Y, Eu
Neodymium and samarium magnets are much more powerful than traditional ferric magnet alternatives.  These magnets providing much better performance under a wider range of operating conditions, so allowing  effective miniaturization and production of compact, lightweight and powerful motors.

In portable electronics, including Apple’s popular iPod music player, tiny Neo magnets are used to drive the speakers within earphones. resulting in smaller, lighter speakers with faster base response and lower overall distortion.  Such technology would not be possible without the role played by Rare Earth Elements.