Systemic Analysis of Rare Earth Elements – flows and stocks

This is the website of a project funded by the French government looking at flows and stocks of rare earth elements. Several eco-technologies of primary importance (windpower mills, low consumption lamps, electric motors …), use rare earth elements (REE ; for example neodymium, dysprosium or samarium in the permanent magnets of windpower mills or hybrid vehicles). These substances are referred to as “critical” in that they combine scarcity with economic impact intensity in the event of penury. Yet more than 97% of the world production of REEs is controlled by China, while this country has approximately 30% of estimated world reserves. Restrictions in terms of Chinese REE export quotas are a concern for governments and recent initiatives (for example the COMES in France or the European Raw Materials Initiative) aim at reducing this dependence. The objective of the ASTER project (Systemic Analysis of Rare Earth Elements – flows and stocks) is to provide a global vision of REE criticity, based on a dynamic analysis of the flows and stocks of these substances (SFA) in the anthroposphere and thus to contribute to improving the safety of supply of these substances that are essential for certain eco-technologies. A review of the literature relative to SFA shows that the lithosphere (the subsurface) is invariably considered as a source of flux but never as a stock. It is because it associates, among others, the French leader of REE applications and recycling (Rhodia) and the public body of reference in Earth Sciences (BRGM) that the ASTER project is able to offer a more holistic analysis of the question of REE criticity by combining both primary (extractable from the subsurface) and secondary (recycled) resources. One of the project’s primary deliverables is the delivery of so-called “Sankey” diagrams, that provide a visualization of substance flows and stocks in various compartments of the economy (primary production, imports, manufacturing, recycling, …). The thicknesses of the flux arrows being proportional to flux importance, these diagrams are particularly easy to read by non-technical decision-makers, a feature which guarantees a better dissemination of project results. These fluxes and stocks being typically affected by uncertainties related to the incomplete/imprecise nature of available information (such uncertainties are qualified as “epistemic” as opposed to “stochastic” uncertainties related to randomness), the tools offered by possibility theory, that are particularly tailored for representing expert knowledge, will be exploited.

Website:

http://www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/en/anr-funded-project/?solr=run&tx_lwmsuivibilan_pi2%5BCODE%5D=ANR-11-ECOT-0002

Date (Creation): 2011-01-01

Date (Publication): 2014-01-01

Date (Revision)

Citation identifier: https://www.mica-project.eu/ / MICA_B3-194
MICA WP3 2018-11-03T15:16:00 Record extracted from Batch 3 spreadsheet

Other citation details: No other citation details provided

Purpose: Purpose for data generation is not known

Status: Completed

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
BRGM			Resource provider

Maintenance and update frequency: Not planned

dataCentre

MICA
MET4TECH

MICA ontology (TemporalScheme)

Recent (includes data from 2006 onwards)

MICA ontology (DataScheme)

General descriptive information / Website / Government organisation (Website)

Keywords

Requirement for data generation: Voluntary

Keywords

Method of data or information generation: Academic research

GEMET Concepts

Exports

GEMET Concepts

Imports

GEMET Concepts

Minerals

GEMET Concepts

Production

GEMET Concepts

Resources

GEMET Concepts

Stocks

GEMET Concepts

Waste flows

INSPIRE commodities

Rare earths (undifferentiated)

Eurostat Waste categories

Aluminium waste

Eurostat Waste categories

Artificial mineral waste