China shot itself in the foot by trying to corner rare-earth market
Power Japan Plus’s electric-car battery does not use any conductive metals, including rare-earth metals, common to traditional lithium ion batteries. Its “dual carbon” technology is based on cotton fibre – the material Thomas Edison used to make carbon fibres in his light bulbs.
A limited supply of the raw materials used in electric-car batteries has long threatened to cap growth in the industry. Some of those raw materials – the rare-earth metals – are produced primarily in China, which at one point attempted to effectively stop exporting the stuff.
If this action spurred the initiative to find alternative technologies, then China may pay a high price for trying to corner the rare-earth market.
“As a Saudi prince once explained in the 1970s to compatriots who wanted to cut oil output and drive prices higher: if a country with a precious resource limits supply too ruthlessly, it risks encouraging mass investments in alternative sources of energy”.
Read more at: http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1523699/china-shot-itself-foot-trying-corner-rare-earth-market
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