Your Hybrid Car Is Hogging All the Rare Earth Metals  

Neodymium: A rare earth element found in trace quantities in a variety of minerals, Neodymium is a crucial component in the alloy used to make the Prius's electric motors' magnets Theodore Gray

So it turns all those hybrid car owners who turn their environmentally conscious noses up have an unexpected caveat to their green-ness--their cars are sucking up rare earth metals at a disturbing rate.

Rare earth elements take up 17 slots on the periodic table, and are named not for their overall scarcity (they're actually quite common in trace elements throughout the Earth's core) but for the relatively uncommon minerals in which they were originally found; few rare earth elements exist in pure elemental form naturally.

Reuters spoke with commodities trader and "strategic metals expert" Jack Lifton, who claims hybrids such as the Prius uses more rare earths than any object in the world. Neodymium and lanthanum--used in allows in a hybrid's batteries and electric motor's magnets--could become increadibly scarce or even disappear altogether within the next several years. Each Prius uses 2.2 pounds of neodymium in its electric motor magnets, and 20-30 pounds of lanthanum in the batteries. And those amounts will only go up as the Prius's powertrain continues to evolve for more efficiency.

Wind turbines, another green power source, also utilize rare earth metals, and when combined with increased consumption for hybrid cars, total future demand could exceed current supply by up to 40,000 tons. [Reuters]

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