We Need to Get Serious about “Critical Materials”

The primary industries mentioned in these Chinese articles are linked to the defense industry, but rare earths are used in many other critical sectors including energy (think oil refining, electric vehicles and wind turbines). These issues of supply threats, international relations, security and the related analysis is has been intensely analyzed and addressed in in energy policy—especially in relation to oil. What has become clear over decades of energy security analysis is that a reliance solely on import dependence does not account for the economic impacts of energy supply, nor many other factors, and thus is only one of many elements that need be considered for robust decision making in energy security and resilience.

Source: blogs.scientificamerican.com