Energy Critical Elements: He
2
Helium
4.003
5 6 7 8 9 10
B C N O F Ne
Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon
10.811 12.0107 14.00674 15.9994 18.9984032 20.1797
13 14 15 16 17 18
Al Si P S Cl Ar
Aluminum Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon
26.981538 28.0855 30.973761 32.066 35.4527 39.948
28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton
58.6934 63.546 65.39 69.723 72.61 74.92160 78.96 79.904 83.80
46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon
106.42 107.8682 112.411 114.818 118.710 121.760 127.60 126.90447 131.29
78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
Platinum Gold Mercury Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon
195.078 196.96655 200.59 204.3833 207.2 208.98038 (209) (210) (222)
65 66 67 68 69 70 71
Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium
158.92534 162.50 164.93032 167.26 168.93421 173.04 174.967
63 64 Securing
65 66 67for Emerging
Materials 68 69 70
Technologies 71
Eu Gd Tb
A REPORT BY THE APS PANEL ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS & THE MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium
151.964 157.25 158.92534 162.50 164.93032 167.26 168.93421 173.04 174.967
95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103
Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium
(243) (247) (247) (251) (252) (257) (258) (259) (262)
Color
One color BW halftone
CYMK SPOT (PMS) COLORS
Black
(100%)
TM TM
100% Cyan
58% Magenta
0% Yellow
Pantone: 294
21% Black
,ABOUT APS & POPA REPORT COMMITTEE
Founded in 1899 to advance and diffuse the knowledge of Robert Jaffe, Chair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
physics, the American Physical Society is now the nation’s Jonathan Price, Co-Chair, University of Nevada, Reno
leading organization of physicists with more than 48,000
members in academia, national laboratories and industry. Gerbrand Ceder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
APS has long played an active role in the federal govern- Rod Eggert, Colorado School of Mines
ment; its members serve in Congress and have held posi-
Tom Graedel, Yale University
tions such as Science Advisor to the President of the United
States, Director of the CIA, Director of the National Science Karl Gschneidner, Iowa State University, Ames Laboratory
Foundation and Secretary of Energy. Murray Hitzman, Colorado School of Mines
This report was overseen by the APS Panel on Public Affairs Frances Houle, Invisage Technologies, Inc.
(POPA). POPA routinely produces reports on timely topics Alan Hurd, Los Alamos National Laboratory
being debated in government so as to inform the debate Ron Kelley, Materials Research Society
with the perspectives of physicists working in the relevant
issue areas. Alex King, Ames Laboratory
Delia Milliron, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Brian Skinner, Yale University
ABOUT MRS
Francis Slakey, American Physical Society
The Materials Research Society (MRS) is an international or-
ganization of nearly 16,000 materials researchers from aca- APS STAFF
demia, industry, and government, and a recognized leader
in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materi- Jeanette Russo
als research to improve the quality of life. MRS members
are engaged and enthusiastic professionals hailing from
physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, mathematics
and engineering – the full spectrum of materials research.
Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, MRS member-
ship now spans over 80 countries, with more than 40% of
its members residing outside of the United States. MRS
organizes high-quality scientific meetings, attracting over
13,000 attendees annually and facilitating interactions
among a wide range of experts from the cutting edge of
the global materials community. MRS is also a recognized
leader in education, outreach and advocacy for scientific
research.
This policy report was supported by the MRS Government
Affairs Committee.
, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A number of chemical elements that were once laboratory curiosities now figure prominently in new
technologies like wind turbines, solar energy collectors, and electric cars. If widely deployed, such
inventions have the capacity to transform the way we produce, transmit, store, or conserve energy.
To meet our energy needs and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, novel energy systems must
be scaled from laboratory, to demonstration, to widespread deployment.
Energy-related systems are typically materials intensive. As new technologies are widely deployed,
significant quantities of the elements required to manufacture them will be needed. However, many
of these unfamiliar elements are not presently mined, refined, or traded in large quantities, and,
as a result, their availability might be constrained by many complex factors. A shortage of these
“energy-critical elements” (ECEs) could significantly inhibit the adoption of otherwise game-changing
energy technologies. This, in turn, would limit the competitiveness of U.S. industries and the domestic
scientific enterprise and, eventually, diminish the quality of life in the United States.
ECEs include rare earths, which received much media attention in recent months, but potentially
include more than a dozen other chemical elements. The ECEs share common issues and should be
considered together in developing policies to promote smooth and rapid deployment of desirable
technologies.
Several factors can contribute to limiting the domestic availability of an ECE. The element might
simply not be abundant in Earth’s crust or might not be concentrated by geological processes. An
element might only occur in a few economic deposits worldwide, or production might be dominated
by and, therefore, subject to manipulation by one or more countries. The United States already relies
on other countries for more than 90% of most of the ECEs we identify. Many ECEs have, up to this
point, been produced in relatively small quantities as by-products of primary metals refining. Joint
production complicates attempts to ramp up output by a large factor. Because they are relatively
scarce, extraction of ECEs often involves processing large amounts of material, sometimes in ways that
do unacceptable environmental damage. Finally, the time required for production and utilization to
adapt to fluctuations in price and availability of ECEs is long, making planning and investment difficult.
This report surveys these potential constraints on the availability of ECEs and then identifies five
specific areas of potential action by the United States to insure their availability: 1) federal agency
coordination; 2) information collection, analysis, and dissemination; 3) research, development, and
workforce enhancement; 4) efficient use of materials; and, 5) market interventions. Throughout this
report, narratives on particular ECEs are provided to clarify these five action areas.
The report’s specific recommendations, which can be found in their entirety in Section 4, are sum-
marized as follows:
Coordination
• The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) should create a subcommittee within the
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to 1) examine the production and use of energy-
critical elements within the United States and, 2) coordinate the federal response.
Information
• The U.S. government should gather, analyze, and disseminate information on energy-critical ele-
ments across the life-cycle supply chain, including discovered and potential resources, production,
use, trade, disposal, and recycling. The entity undertaking this task should be a “Principal Statistical
Agency” with survey enforcement authority. It should regularly survey emerging energy technolo-
gies and the supply chain for elements throughout the periodic table with the aim of identifying
critical applications, as well as potential shortfalls.
