The Secret Behind Wind Energy

Many countries in the present world are trying to cater their energy requirements using green energy sources. Along with the increasing demand for green energy, rare earth materials like neodymium have gained much attention. They are critical components in the manufacturing process of wind turbines that can be found in wind farms.

Even though wind farms help us to protect the world, the process of extracting neodymium is damaging the environment. China is recognized as the world’s largest supplier of neodymium and they have highly ignored the warnings issued by environmental specialists. Their negative effects can be seen today; the Mongolia’s widening sea of radioactive waste is a perfect example to prove this. US government has understood these negative consequences and they have dramatically reduced the rare earth metal production during the past few years.

From the above mentioned facts, it is clear that many countries have thought about the greener aspect of making energy out of wind. However, they don’t seem to have any other ideal alternative option. For example, solar power is too expensive and it is not efficient like wind power. Moreover, fossil fuel burning directly contributes towards global warming. In order to minimize these harmful effects, the developers of wind farms are trying to make them more efficient. Countries like Australia are following an environmentally friendly way in the process of extracting neodymium.

When it comes to China, Inner Mongolia contains over 90% of the world’s neodymium reserves. China is focusing more on this area to cater the requirements of the world. The factories that have come to this area for the process of neodymium extraction have created huge lakes of toxic waste. The most notable damage is the emission of poison to water, air and livestock. This has created huge health issues for the people who live around the area including cancers and breathing problems.

Jamie Choi, who is an expert about toxics and poisons in China has mentioned that only one step in the extraction of neodymium has created environmental issues. Further he has mentioned that a large amount of acid is pumped into the ores that are located in the ground along with several chemicals to facilitate the process of extraction. The byproducts of this process are dumped into tailing lakes after that and they can create health issues to people all around China. However, they are not planning to cut down the production or restrict the usage of these harmful processes of manufacturing neodymium.

About Stanford Magnets: Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed Rare-earth magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.

China Violated Free Trade with Rare Earth Restrictions

China has been dominating the world’s rare earth magnet exporting industry over the past few years. However, during the last couple of years, they implemented several restrictions on the export of rare earth magnets that created a lot of hassle in the world industry. It was even reported that China broke the international trade laws by implementing these restrictions on the export of rare earth magnets that are essential for modern world manufacturing processes. This incident was reported in a World Trade Organization panel discussion that took place in the last week of March. 

The reports have forced the Chinese government to think twice about their restrictions. They will even have to face trade sanctions from United States, who took the initiative in bringing the case, Japan and European Union. Before these export restrictions, China has been catering 9/10^th of the world’s rare earth magnet supply. These rare earth elements were used in many industries including the manufacturing process of motors. The reduction in supply has directly affected this production and that is the main reason why these countries are forcing China to take off the restrictions. 

From the statistical records, it is clear that China has reduced the terbium oxide production by 8.6 percent, terbium metal production by 6.1 percent and dysprosium oxide by 8 percent. In addition, the reduction of neodymium supply by 2.3 percent during the first few months of 2014 has greatly affected these industries, which heavily rely on it. Many experts predict that if China continues implementing these restrictions, they will have to look for alternatives or else ask China to follow a flexible policy on their exports. 

However, it is clear that China has not completely restricted the export of all the types of rare earth elements. For example, export of Samarium oxide has remained unchanged for the past few months. In addition, it has also been reported that the yttrium prices have been following a steady path for few weeks. Unfortunately, the elements with the biggest demand like neodymium have not remained unchanged, which has caused much hassle for the countries that heavily depend on these elements. 

About Stanford Magnets. http://www.stanfordmagnets.com/
Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed Rare-earth permanent magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.

How Does Illicit Rare-Earth Smuggling Affect The Chinese Industry?

During the year 2013, the Chinese government started breaking down on the smuggling of rare earth metals. It created a huge impact on the Chinese government and they lost about 20,000 tons of rare earth oxides, which were exported illegally. This can be considered as a huge amount when compared to the countries legal rare earth oxide production of 81,000 metric tons in the same year.

From the statistical information, it has been identified that China holds about 30% of the world’s rare earth reserves. After their discovery of rare earth elements in 1980, they experienced a significant growth in the production of rare earth metals to the market, until it was cut down in 2013. According to Situation of Rare Earth Industry Economy Operation in 2013, which is the annual report of Ministry of Industry in China, the total value of the exports were estimated about 12.6 billion dollars per year. However, the Chinese government put some restrictions to their rare earth element exports and it has created a wide range of illegal activities. Most of these illegal activities rotate around crimes that target mining activities. Then these rare earth metals are exported in an illegal manner to different countries. The other countries who pioneer in motor and electronic industry prefer to import such rare earth metals because they can reduce the production cost by a great amount.

However, smuggling rare earth elements have created a huge impact on the economy of China. The Chinese government implemented these restrictions in order to experience a boost in the economy during the next few years. Unfortunately, these illegal exports have put the Chinese economy in trouble and the government is looking for a convenient solution to get rid of this hassle.

According to the reported instances, smuggling forced the government of China to cancel 161 rare earth element licenses within the year 2013. In addition, 127 different companies were orders to cease their production activities until rectification. In addition, they reduced the production quotas to fewer than 16,000 tons and they are in the process of cutting down that amount further in 2014. The government of China lost 1.3 billion dollars within 2013 and they are trying to reduce this loss caused by illegal activities during 2014 by lowering the prices. Moreover, a large number of campaigns have been started to reduce the short term effects. The responsible authorities are also forcing the government to implement necessary laws and regulate the industry as soon as possible.


About Stanford Magnets: 
Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed Rare-earth magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.

Neodymium - The Most Commonly Used of Rare Earth Magnets

Neodymium can be considered as one of the most commonly used rare earth magnets that you can find in the present world. The strength and affordability of those magnets have played a major role behind their popularity. These permanent magnets donot easily lose their magnetism. Since their discovery in 1970s, the Neodymium has been a prominent element in many industries.  

Neodymium is a composition of some rare earth elements including nickel, iron and cobalt. They are usually coated for protection that can take place as a result of industry work. The biggest advantage of Neodymium is their strength. Usually the rare earth magnets are stronger than other available permanent magnets, but Neodymium is the strongest. Its unique strength comes from the extremely high magnetic field. Even though Neodymium is a strong rare earth magnet, it is extremely affordable. That is the reason why many people seek the assistance of Neodymium in industries like security, mechanics, health and electronics. 

In the present world, Neodymium plays a major role behind wind power generation. Wind power is generated from wind turbines, which require light weight and efficient motors. Neodymium has the ability to give life to such motors. The affordability of Neodymium has helped a lot for the people to implement new wind farms without any hassle and cater the increasing energy requirements of people. 

Wind power is defined as a more established alternative energy source. In the rural areas of the world, you can find homeowners who seek the assistance of wind power to cater their basic energy requirements. However, such wind turbines cannot be implemented in large scale to provide support for the national electricity grid, without the assistance of Neodymium. These precious magnets have incredibly reduced the weight of motors while maintaining their efficiency. At the end of the day, it has helped people to make efficient wind turbines and create energy in an environmental friendly way.

About Stanford Magnets.

Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed Rare-earth magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.

What are The Effects Of Extracting Rare-Earth Metals?

Rare earth metals have become an essential resource in the present world due to technological development. Almost all the countries try to develop their own technological goods, which has created a huge demand for rare earth metals in the present world. However, the entire process which is associated with extracting rare earth metals is very disruptive to the world we live. They are being mined with a technology called open pit mining techniques. When following this technique, heavy machinery and equipment are used to create a hole in the earth and dig for rare earth metals.

During the refining process of rare earth metals, a lot of byproducts are released to the environment. We can consider them as pollutants since they have the potential to ruin the atmosphere. Moreover, the process of extracting rare earth metals is a complex one and it is associated with the usage of different solvents, acids and many other chemical based materials. Last but not least, a large amount of energy and water is consumed during the entire process. At the end of the day, it can produce enormous amounts of waste gas, waste water and other forms of waste residue.

In February 2014, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China introduced a new plan which can reduce the harm done by rare earth metals to the world. This plan is known as Cleaner Production Technology Promotion Plan for the Rare Earth Industry. As mentioned in this plan, the main objective of China is to enhance the speed of promotion and industrial application of the process of separating low sodium and low carbon free ammonia nitrogen rare earth oxide. They are also planning to increase the efficiency of purification technologies, which create a lot of damage to the earth. With this plan, China will be able to reduce the acid base requirement which is associated with rare earth melting, and separation. If they can continue this plan without any disruption, they will be able to make the comprehensive use of available rare earth resources by the year 2017.

The government of China has asked relevant departments to speed up the implementation process of this plan as soon as possible. The sooner they implement it; the sooner they can reduce the damage caused to the environment. The industrial technological level of China has experienced a significant growth within the past few decades. However, this has created a huge impact on the environment. The new plan will be able to save 373,000 tons of sodium hydroxide, 120,000 tons of hydrochloric acid and 50,000 tons of ammonia per year. By 2017, China will be able to experience the benefits of the Cleaner Production Technological Promotion Plan of the Rare earth industry.

About Stanford Magnets>>

Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed rare-earth magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.

Is Wind Power Becoming More Competitive?

The power generation of the world has increased incredibly during the past few years. According to the latest Global Wind Report Annual Market Update 2014 from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), it is reported that the global wind power market increased by about 10% in 2013 alone. Within the United States, more than 200 gigawatts of wind power has been produced within 2013. All these statistical figures clearly specify that wind power is becoming more competitive.

Wind can be considered as a great alternative available for fossil fuels. This fact has led many leading nations in the world to use wind for their energy requirements. They are spending billions of dollars per year on making new wind turbines and consider them as a great investment done towards the future. The prices of turbines have also fallen dramatically in order to support this. As a result of that and the availability of wind, the amount of money required to make energy out of wind is 5.5 percent, when compared to the cost from coal.

Wind is one of the cheapest and effective power sources that you can find in the present world. It even has the potential to compete on its own, without the existence of subsides. In addition, it is an environmental friendly energy source. Using fossil fuels to cater the energy requirements cannot be considered as a long-term method since it gives life to a wide array of byproducts which are harmful to the environment. Moreover, the fossil fuels are limited and we will have to look for an alternative option in the long run. But wind is available in plenty of amounts and we can use it according to the way we want. However, you should also note that there are certain limitations in using wind due to the effect of dirty air. When considered in general, it is more competitive and effective than the other energy sources out there.

According to the experts, it costs about one million dollars for the wind turbines to make one megawatt of energy. This is extremely cheap when compared with the cost of using fossil fuels such as coal. That’s the main reason why many experts say that wind is more competitive than all the other energy sources out there. With the current world trends, the price of gas will be unaffordable by the year 2020 and there should be an alternative option to consider. At the moment, wind is the only hope to this issue. The United States, it is expected to install about 40 gigawatts of new wind turbines during this year. The cost of wind power has also been reduced by about 90% during the past two decades. All these initiatives will assist the people to save the world we live and cater the increasing energy requirements of the world in a convenient manner. 

About Stanford Magnets. http://www.stanfordmagnets.com/

Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed Rare-earth permanent magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.

How Do Neodymium Magnets Work

Neodymium magnets invented in the early 1980s by General Motors (GM) and Sumitomo Special Metals. Neodymium magnets (also known as NdFeB; NIB or Neo magnets) are the strongest type of permanent magnets commercially available. These neodymium magnets are very strong; cheap; and small. Neodymium magnets made numerous advances in electric motors; audio systems and data storing.

These super strong magnets are made of an alloy (NIB—neodymium); boron and iron. The arrangement of electron in these materials lets them develop strong magnetic fields. The magnetic field is very strong; so we need small amounts of rare earth elements to make a small power full magnet.

The chemical composition of neodymium magnets is Nd₂Fe₁₄B. This crystal structure has exceptionally high uniaxial magneto crystalline anisotropy. This anisotropy gives the compound the potential to have high coercivity. The crystal also has a high saturation magnetization and typically 1.3teslas. Therefore the maximum energy density is proportional to Js2. This neodymium magnetic phase has the potential for storing large amounts of magnetic energy. The magnetic properties of these power full magnets depend on the microstructure; alloy composition; and manufacturing technique which are used by the manufacture.

The neodymium magnets are mainly used in audio systems and electric motors; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); loudspeakers and headphones; bench top NMR spectrometers; mechanical e-cigarette firing switches; magnetic bearings and couplings; head actuators for computer hard disks; magnetic guitar pickups; servomotors; spindle and stepper motors; cordless tools; drive motors for hybrid and electric vehicles; electric generators for wind turbines; lifting and compressor motors; synchronous motors; electrical power steering; magnetic jewelry clasps;  sport parachute equipment; Linx anti-reflux system; and children's magnetic building sets.

 About Stanford Magnets. http://www.stanfordmagnets.com/

Based in California, Stanford Magnets has been involved in the R&D and sales of licensed Rare-earth permanent magnets, Neodymium magnets and SmCo magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnets and magnetic assemblies since the mid of 1980s. We supply all these types of magnets in a wide range of shapes, sizes and grades.