How do Rare Earths affect my current lighting choices?
In most modern electronic and consumer goods are created by using Rare Earths, these are indispensible group of 17 elements. These elements include Scandium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium and Europium to name a few. Most of these 17 elements are not as rare as the name suggests, the problem that occurs with these Rare Earths is how they naturally form; they are found in small quantities spread over large areas - making these elements hard to commercially mine as it is not cost effective.

Uses of these 17 elements are found in TV screens, petroleum refining, in-ear headphones, hybrid engines, lighter flints, wind turbines and even pool cleaning products as Lanthanum helps remove the phosphates that feed algae!


Why is this relevant to lighting?
As many as five of the Rare Earths are needed to create the white light needed for all lighting. Over 50% of the phosphor for Fluorescent and compact Fluorescent products is created from these elements, they are used in large quantities in Metal Halides Lamps and SON – high and low discharge lighting. LED lighting also uses these Rare Earths but in a much lower quantities and have not experienced the cost rise as much as the traditional alternatives.

With ever increasing demand for consumer and electrical goods and some limits in exporting quotas being introduced by China the limited stocks of these Rare Earths have driven cost levels to increase in value at a staggering rate, some of these elements cost’s have grown by over 1066% in the last year!

A number of actions are underway to help balance out this situation including the European Union along with other governments working with China to ensure policies are in place for monitoring fair policies and cost levels. In conjunction with this more Rare Earth mines are being re-opened and new mines being set up all over the world to ensure that the limited stocks are not solely exported from China. The shortfall has also meant some stockpiling taking place, which all means that this situation although initial steps have been taken to help control the situation it could take years to rectify with the timescale of opening new mines and costs of the available materials being currently so volatile.

Other initiatives currently being implemented include the ability to recycle Rare Earth metals as a more feasible and accessible option; ensuring that we reuse the materials already mined rather than relying solely on raw materials.


LED lighting shining through as a clear winner
The shortage of these Rare Earths has found a huge number of companies that sell traditional light sources having to increase their production costs over the last few months impacting on the end user, which has meant a hidden benefit for LED lighting. As the gap between the costs of the two technologies has reduced, it has made LED alternatives more viable and this will continue to help organisations to make the choice to switch to LED lighting.

The benefits of using LED lighting now include an additional point:
• Using less Rare Earths than traditional lamps
• Reducing energy usage
• Cutting CO2 emissions
• Lowering maintenance costs due to long life of LEDs
• Helping the environment with less waste and better efficiency

For advice on retrofitting or using LED lighting for your organisation, please contact Exled on sales@exled.co.uk or 01453 756361.