logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
34m 24s

The geopolitics of rare earth elements

Latitude Media
About this episode
China’s new export controls on rare earth elements (REEs) are a problem for EVs, renewables, and other industries that rely on the minerals, especially the permanent magnets they’re used in. The vast majority of the global supply chain is in China. Plus, Chinese companies control supply chain operations around the world.  So is it possible to stand up a rar ... Show More
Up next
Oct 6
Frontier Forum: A new playbook for clean energy growth
After the failure of federal climate legislation in 2010, clean energy advocates realized they had to look elsewhere for momentum. The result was a shift toward states and regional markets — and the creation of Advanced Energy United, a trade group built to make policy progress o ... Show More
31m 57s
Oct 2
The new wave of DERs
Demand response was the original distributed energy resource. In its early days, it was surprisingly manual: a grid operator would call up a large load, like a factory, and request a few hours of reduced demand during peak times. Fast forward to today and DERs look dramatically d ... Show More
39m 3s
Sep 25
Ag residue and carbon removal
Agricultural byproducts like corn stover, wood chips, and soybean husks typically get left to decompose and release carbon dioxide. Don’t call them “waste” though; some farmers use these byproducts as field cover to improve soil health. And industry uses a fraction of this biomas ... Show More
35m 16s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2024
121 - Rare Earth Elements: The Futile Fight Against China
As the world pivots towards a green energy future, the dominance of rare earth elements has never been more crucial. Yet, while the West has been preoccupied with other geopolitical challenges, China has quietly taken control of this vital industry. This episode delves into the s ... Show More
1h 9m
Jun 2024
Why ditching aluminum is key to securing the US solar supply chain
Solar is the fastest growing electricity-generating technology in history. That rapid scaling was a result of squeezing cost reductions out of every step of production. But there's one critical piece that hasn't changed much: frames.Aluminum frames now make up one-quarter of the ... Show More
44m 6s
Apr 2025
ICYMI: The Business of Rare Earth Materials in the US
ICYMI: Joshua Ballard, CEO of USA Rare Earth, discusses the challenges faces American companies interested in producing and refining the crucial raw materials that are used in the likes of missiles, electric vehicles, MRI machines and other advanced technologies - while China sta ... Show More
11m 37s
May 2025
China: The mineral superpower
The country dominates the global processing of critical minerals - materials essential to clean energy, defence, and modern manufacturing. In the second part of our series on the global race to secure these resources, we explore how China built its control over the supply chain, ... Show More
17m 29s
Feb 2025
Global Wind Market Shifts as Chinese Exports Expand
Chinese wind turbine makers are expanding their global footprint at an impressive rate. Leading manufacturers like Goldwind, Envision, Mingyang and Windey are exporting their turbines at a significant discount to Western incumbents, undercutting their rivals and establishing them ... Show More
30m 45s
Aug 28
How China’s Renewable Push Upends Geopolitics w/ Kate Mackenzie & Tim Sahay
Paris Marx is joined by Kate Mackenzie and Tim Sahay to discuss the geopolitics behind China’s investments in green tech and electrification, and how it presents the prospect of a new development model based on renewables instead of fossil fuels. Kate Mackenzie is an adjunct fell ... Show More
1h 1m
Jun 2025
China's dominance in critical minerals
Decades ago, China foresaw what the U.S. didn't - a future dependent on critical minerals. Now, the U.S. is playing catch up as China’s export controls threaten global supply chains. Join Laurie Chen, Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw to hear the latest on critical minerals, pa ... Show More
18m 48s
Jan 2024
Many battles in the lithium and critical minerals revolution
In 2021, the Biden administration put out a report about gaps in the supply chain for electric vehicles. It estimated global demand for lithium and graphite would grow by more than 4,000% by 2040 if the world were to achieve the climate goals laid out in the Paris accords. These ... Show More
13m 48s
Mar 2025
173. The politization of Critical Materials - Mar25
The XXIst century economy will be powered by 'critical minerals' such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earths. China has spent the past 20 years building a dominant position across the supply chain for these metals.The rest of the world is finally waking up to the economic an ... Show More
33m 28s
Oct 2024
3053: The Future of Electronics Supply Chains: Challenges and Innovations
In this episode, I sit down with Richard Barnett, Chief Marketing Officer at Supplyframe, a leader in Design-to-Source Intelligence for the global electronics value chain. Richard brings decades of expertise in semiconductor supply chains and shares insights on the challenges and ... Show More
44m 27s