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Preparing for New Green Trade Wars?

Sara Wolcott | Saturday 4th July 2009

If you were hoping that ending the developed world's oil addiction would curb resource conflicts, you might want to think again. The 'new' scarce commodities isn't black and sticky, but they are rare - a rare earth metal. Neodmium is one of several rare metals with unique properties that are becoming the nexus of what we might think of as the new green trade wars amongst China, the US and Japan.

Neodmium is an essential aspect of electric car motors and wind turbines. It is known for its magnetic force - nine times stronger than conventional magnets - a It and its 'cousins' are found in the United States and China. China has been aggressively buying up companies that extract and refine the raw material, and developing its own R&D around refining and producing the product. It has also been shifting from exporting the minerals (137,00 tonnes in 2006) to supply its domestic industries with the mineral - and thus gain ground to become one of the leading producers of wind turbines and other green energy that will make a difference.

It seems like most of my blogs on China imply a question about what is a developing country - and how do we find global sustainable development. One things is sure: if the US wants to be a leader in green technology - one of the major components of sustainable development - it will have to invest in green technology Research.

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