Alternatives to Rare Earth Magnets Offer Great Promise – GreenBuildingAdvisor

Green Building News

Minnesota-based Niron Magnetics makes the world’s first rare-earth-free permanent magnet, with full commercialization slated for next year.

Rare earth elements, aka rare earths, are global commodities that are receiving a lot of attention of late, mostly for the wrong reasons. They are frequently the subject of international trade disputes, and the mining operations required to extract large quantities of rare earths results in habitat destruction, water and air pollution, and toxic runoff. Add to which, all this talk about the U.S. acquiring Greenland is arguably more about tapping into the arctic island’s vast rare earth deposits than any bluster about preserving military strongholds. Despite more than 80% of Greenland being covered in 2,000-meter-thick ice sheets and its rare-earth reserves being largely inaccessible due to uranium deposits, the island contains one of the most “exceptionally valuable distributions of specific elements,” according to The World Data.

The critical need for rare earths

The elements in question are dysprosium and neodymium. The latter is critical for making neodymium magnets, the strongest and most common rare earth permanent magnet in the world, made from an alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron. Applications for these magnets include EV motors, wind turbines, and mobile phones. Adding just a small percentage of dysprosium to neodymium magnets increases their strength, especially in higher temperatures and varying environmental conditions. (China holds most of the world’s dysprosium reserves and produces upwards of 90% of the world’s magnets; Greenland presents one of the few alternatives in terms of raw resources.)

Neodymium magnets have also become increasingly critical components in the production of energy efficient HVAC systems because they allow compressors to operate at higher speeds while using less energy. They also play an important role in reducing noise and vibration.

In recent years, the Department of Energy and other federal agencies have recognized the national security concerns associated with sourcing neodymium, cobalt, and other rare earths…