Elementary lighting

Rare earth elements have been in the news recently after the discovery of large reserves on the Pacific Ocean floor. But what impact does their availability have on the lighting industry? Andy Pearson turns chemist to find out

Yttrium, Europium, Lathanum, Cerium and Terbium sound like the names of planets from a galaxy millions of light years away. They are, in fact, part of a group of elements known as rare earth metals, which are a critical component in the manufacture of some types of lamp. They are also increasingly used in the production of other high-tech goods such as wind turbines, electric cars, optical fibres, computer chips and solar cells.

Despite their name, rare earth metals are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust but in concentrations too small to make mining economical, so global supply relies on a small number of sources.

Currently 95 per cent of the world’s rare earth metal mining and oxide production comes from China. However, the Chinese government has implemented new tariffs and mining regulations, which have restricted the trade in the precious commodity.

Greater demand coupled with increasingly strict Chinese export quotas have led to the prices of rare earths skyrocketing.

In July, lamp manufacturer GE published a briefing paper on rare earths in which it states: “Over the past 12 months, the prices of some rare earths – including Terbium and Europium, both used in fluorescent lamp phosphors – have increased by around 1000 per cent, and others even more.”

With price increases of this magnitude, the costs of rare earths are starting to have a dramatic impact on the costs of fluorescent lamps in particular.

Prices are set to increase further, with some predicting that the shortage of rare earths may even accelerate the move from increasingly expensive fluorescent technologies to LED lamps.

The crisis in rare earth metals has even come to the attention of the UK government, which in January 2011, issued a briefing paper on the subject to assess the strategic as well as economic importance to the UK. It states: “The UK government currently has no specific policies regarding rare earth materials, but is undertaking a policy review.”

Dilemma

So what’s so special about rare earth metals? They are a group of 17 elements with unique properties that make them virtually indispensible in the production of a wide range of modern goods.

Neodymium, for example, is used in the manufacture of high-powered magnets for loudspeakers, hard drives, wind turbines and even electric cars. Others are used in optical fibres, touchscreens and medical imaging.

In the lighting industry, rare earth metals are most commonly found in the phosphor coatings of lamps. In fact, by value, the amount of rare earths used in the manufacture of phosphors is second only to that used in magnets. More than half of the phosphor used in linear fluorescent (TL) and compact fluorescent (CFL) products is derived from rare earths with as many as five different rare earth elements used to create white light, including yttrium, europium, lathanum, cerium and terbium.

In addition to fluorescent lamps, phosphors containing cerium, europium and terbium are widely used in the coatings of blue LED chips to create a white light. Rare earth-based phosphors are also used to improve the balance of light produced by metal halide lamps and even neon signs sometimes use phosphors to produce different colours of light.

With the use of rare earths so common in the lighting industry, clearly the impact of any cost increase will be wide-ranging.

However, it is the cost of fluorescent lamps where the impact has been felt hardest. In its Rare Earth Briefing Paper, GE states: “The meteoric increase in rare earth prices has led to a significant rise in manufacturing costs.” The paper emphasises that this is an international problem: “It should be remembered that this isn’t just a challenge for GE lighting; it’s a global issue, one that is having an impact on manufacturers and users of all kinds of goods.”

In North America, GE, along with other lamp manufacturers, has been forced to substantially increase the prices of rare-earth-dependant products including compact fluorescent lamps. The company has announced price increases in fluorescents from 1 June as a result of a shortage of rare earths. The company declined to comment on how rare earths would affect the costs of lamps in the UK.

Market mayhem

In a letter dated July 2011 to Philips’ fluorescent lighting distributors in North America, Ed Crawford, CEO Philips Lighting North America said: “Rare earth oxides are a critical component of fluorescent-based lighting systems. The recent global shortage of these materials is currently having a direct impact on phosphor availability and pricing… Due to changing market conditions, Philips is implementing pricing actions on all fluorescent-based lighting products.” It is unclear what the situation is in the UK regarding prices. Philips was “unable to provide any further information at this time”.

Also in the US, Rick Leaman, president and CEO of Osram Sylvania, said in a letter to customers, dated June 2011: “In order to combat the steep rising costs of these raw materials, Osram Sylvania will increase pricing on our fluorescent lamps, including our T8, T5, Delux T12 and all CFL pin and self-ballasted lamps.

These increases will go in effect July 1, 2011; August 1, 2011; and then monthly until the cost of rare earth materials are stabilised.

Cost increases are expected in the UK too, despite initiatives to use the material more effectively and to recycle lamps containing rare earths. A spokesman said: “Osram has secured its supply of rare earth through partnerships, various suppliers and long-term contracts. Our researchers are working hard to reduce the use of materials that are difficult to procure and to develop recovery procedures. In addition Osram is developing a recycling procedure for the further use of luminescent substances from rare earth materials”.

He went on to say: “Despite intense efforts we cannot compensate the cost impact from REE [rare earth elements]. The rare earth topic will have an impact on our pricing of all rare earth element-containing lamps worldwide. According to our knowledge and supported by statements of the German and European Lighting Associations this topic hits the whole lighting industry in the same manner.”

The worry for specifiers is that experts are predicting prices of fluorescent lamps in particular will continue to rise and that the situation is unlikely to change until 2014. There are reports of mines planning to open in the USA, Canada, Australia and Vietnam by that date.

Reserves uncovered

There are also reports that a Japanese research team has uncovered large reserves of rare earths in the floor of the Pacific Ocean, however conservationists have raised concerns about the environmental impact of mining the ocean’s floor.

Some experts are predicting that the short-term increase in the cost of rare earths may serve to accelerate the move away from fluorescent lamps to solid-state lighting because much less phosphor is needed to coat the inside of an LED lamp compared to a fluorescent tube.

However, lighting manufacturers are responding to the situation in various ways. GE has announced that it is trying to keep price rises to a minimum by stockpiling rare earths and securing long-term agreements with non-Chinese mines. Manufacturers are also researching ways to make use of rare earths more effectively by optimising designs and by reducing waste in the manufacturing process. In addition to new sources, advances in recycling technologies could release rare earths currently locked into old electronic components, which could be the silver lining that will be good news for the planet as well as for manufacturers. 

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