Two clever articles in the Economist here and here (i confess, one is a bit old, the other is REALLY old) discuss the need to (and possibility of) building electric engines that do not rely on minerals like dyprosium and neodymium. Right now, as the newspaper reports, China is the sole global source for such materials, and through its own machinations has managed to ensure it will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Thus, let us do without.
Many people interested in the potential of green energy solutions may not consider the fact that many of the materials needed to make electric engines or wind turbines may be rare or hazardous to mine from the earth. Neurosis is never a sound basis for purchasing decisions, but some have compellingly suggested that hybrid cars do not result in a net benefit to the environment.
I offer this (courtesy of the Economist):
A decade ago, America was the world’s leading producer of the rare-earth metals. But its huge open-cast mine at Mountain Pass, California, closed in 2002—a victim of China’s much lower labour costs, America’s increasingly stringent environment rules, and delays in renewing the mine’s operating licence. Today, China produces 97% of the world’s supply of rare-earth metals—a by-product of the country’s vast iron-ore mining operations in Inner Mongolia.
This no doubt means that China controls this market, and that the plethora of cleantech products which rely on these minerals must factor into account the ever-rising prices on that material
(for, example, the price of neodymium has quadrupled in the past year.)
The article does note that the Tesla roadster does not rely on any of these materials for it’s engine, so building these things is possible.
The key, in Tesla’s case (and BMW’s and potentially Toyota’s) is called the Induction motor.
Here is a short but sweet video on it from Youtube.
robertferris.net 