Overcoming Catch-22 for rare earth metals in green transition: Solutions in electrical machine manufacturing

Dan-Cristian Popa and Loránd Szabó

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025, vol. 207, issue C

Abstract: The emphasis of modern society on environmental sustainability is accompanied by a lesser-known paradox. Rare earth permanent magnet machines play an essential role in renewable energy conversion and green transportation, critical sectors of the green transition. However, the mining and processing of rare earth metals required for these machines is energy-intensive and has significant environmental impacts. As a result, the increased use of rare earth permanent magnets to mitigate ecological concerns may lead to further environmental degradation. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review addressing this Catch-22 trap by surveying the main solutions to reduce the need for newly mined and processed rare earth materials. A special focus is set on the approaches applicable in this sense in the field of electrical machines required for the sustainable development of society.

Keywords: Circular economy; Electric transportation environmental protection; Green transition; Permanent magnet electrical machines; Permanent magnets; Rare earth materials; Renewable energy conversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032124006439
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:207:y:2025:i:c:s1364032124006439

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.114917

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().