Record Price Increases In Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs!

Lamp manufacturers are predicting record price increases in CFL light bulbs mainly due to the emerging shortage of rare earth metals used in their production- principally, phosphors.

This shortage of metals is caused by a strategic reduction in exports by China, the world’s current and dominant leader in rare earth mining. In October, the Chinese announced plans to not only cut their production, but also to reduce exports by one-third. Since China currently produces 95% of the world’s total output of rare elements, the threat of global shortages is suddenly real and critical.

Consumption of rare earth metals is exacerbated by the increasing importance in the development of green technologies such as batteries, magnets, computer hard drives, TV screens, smart phones, and energy-saving light sources. Within a few years, rare earth metals such as europium, yttrium, and terbium will be incorporated into almost every light bulb on sale.

Fluorescent light bulbs and video screens depend on fluorescent properties in certain rare earths. In fact, the first commercial use of a rare earth metal occurred in the 1950’s with the introduction of color televisions. Europium, which glows red when hit with an electron beam, is still used today in LED and plasma TV’s, along with another rare earth, terbium, which glows green.

Energy-saving compact light bulbs gain much of their brightness from rare earth phosphors. With the industrialized world moving rapidly from incandescents to fluorescent bulbs, this industry represents a built-in and on-going demand for rare earths. The U.S. conversion from incandescents to fluorescents is scheduled to be complete by 2014.

The Kroll Institute has research projects underway which relate to the extraction and refining of rare earths. The biggest challenge to recovering these metals is separating them from one another. The company is also participating in a pilot program to recover rare earths from recycled fluorescent bulbs. This program, funded by the National Science Foundation, was initiated last year in conjunction with General Electric and Veolia, the country’s largest recycler of fluorescent bulbs.Rare earths are actually not all that rare. They are generally deposited together, and occur widely, but in great diffusion.

Since rare earths tend to intermingle and are very similar chemically, separating them is a difficult and costly undertaking. Another factor limiting supply is the reality that there are only a few deposits large and concentrated enough to support a profitable mining operation. Because of its state-supported mining industry, China has largely made it impossible for the U.S. and other nations to compete in the marketplace. Because China controls the world’s output, they also control pricing and availability, making the large industries who are dependent on the metals, vulnerable.

California’s Mountain Pass Mine, recently sold to Denver-based Molycorp Minerals, holds the largest known reserve of rare earths in the U.S. Located south of Las Vegas in the California desert, Mountain Pass was once the world’s largest producer of rare earth metals from the 1950’s to the 1990’s.

Unable to compete against China’s state-supported mining industry, Mountain Pass ceased production altogether – by the mid-2000’s, U.S. rare earth mining had virtually disappeared, allowing China to become the dominant producer globally. Even as the demand has grown world-wide in new and emerging technologies, China’s indication that it will cut its exports of rare earths has caused prices to skyrocket.

The flip side of the coin is that as prices rise, mining these rare elements once again becomes a profitable enterprise. U.S. mines are producing again. Further exploration of future sites has begun in Wyoming, Alaska, and Idaho. The most optimistic estimates state that the U.S. can become self-sufficient in rare earth production by 2015, though more cautious analysts believe it will take more than a decade.