EU study says China’s grip on rare earths could choke green energy plans
A new European study says supply shortfalls of rare-earth elements over the next two decades put at risk the EU's ambitious plans to expand the production of solar, wind and green transport technologies and implement carbon-capture systems.
According to the EU's Joint Research Centre, solar will require half the current world supply of tellurium and 25% of the supply of indium, while Europe’s wind energy programme which is supposed to power all of the continents 240 million households within 20 years need a steady supply of neodymium and dysprosium. China controls 95% of the globe's rare earth output in 2010 produced more solar panels than the rest of the world combined.