MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. The global demand for rare-earth elements needed to implement renewable energy sources (RES) is growing by 10% per year and the demand for some of them may soar by 40 times in several years, head of the Russian Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) Evgeny Petrov said in an op-ed posted on the TASS website.
The global energy balance cannot be achieved without hydrocarbons, the official said. They will shape trends of global energy consumption until the middle of this century at the least and hence they will determine main trends of human civilization development, he noted. "On the other side, it is obvious that implementation of RES will continue growing, which will lead to significant growth of global demand for critical minerals and rare-earth elements," Petrov stressed.
About 140,000 metric tons of rare-earth elements are produced annually across the globe, the official indicated. "This is just a little, comparing with production of hydrocarbons measured by millions of tons and cubic meters. But exactly critical raw materials, as they are called in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and rare-earth elements are the required basis for making high-technology products of the 21st century," Petrov said. "The demand for these elements is growing exponentially, making up to about 10% per year, while growth by 40 times is forecast for some of them in several years," he added.