A Damper on Green Technology

So, this might be slightly off topic, but an interesting Live Science article popped up on Yahoo! News about the future of technological development. The article makes the claim that many newer technologies, including green technology, rely on the use of rare earth metals that are starting to live up to their name. Most of the world's production of these metals is based in China since its government supports the mining and refining industries necessary to process the resources completely. The one big problem with this is that China's rapidly expanding economy is draining an increasing amount of the rare earth metals resource and the Chinese government has made statements that it will eventually stop exporting the precious metals.

Among the more "green" rare earth metals are Lanthanum and Neodymium. Lanthanum is a primary component in the battery of Toyota's Prius...and there's actually a good amount of neodymium used to make the car. The numbers are sited in the article. Toyota has actually begun to seek sources of rare earth metals other than China. Neodymium is also a main component of the permanent magnets used in wind turbines. As the United States makes an effort to become more environmentally conscious, it might be wise to invest in the mining and refining industries of rare earth metals that are currently at the heart of many alternative energy technologies.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100216/sc_livescience/shortageofrareearthelementscouldthwartinnovation