Rare-Earth Cutbacks Force Sustainability Drive

Self-sufficiency in critical rare-earth supplies is the goal of photonics and optics leaders after the 2011 roller-coaster ride of pricing combined with fear of cutoffs or cutbacks in availability. Before the episode, many users of rare earth elements (REE) said they had no idea where their own REE products were mined, and were unaware that the world was largely dependent on a single country, China, for something so critical to so many countries. Products dependent on REEs include wind turbines, batteries for hybrid vehicles, lasers and optical fibres, polishing compounds for lenses, and many other miliatry and clean energy applications. This article takes a look at what created the crisis and the wake-up call it gave to industry.