Most Americans probably don’t know what europium oxide is. But they surely know one of the consumer products it’s widely used in: compact fluorescent light bulbs.

 

They also may have noticed just how expensive these light bulbs have become, and the answer to why this is goes back to europium oxide, a rare earth element made available largely by China, which controls 95% of this market.

 

Compact fluorescent bulbs have shot up in price this year, by 37%, because China has cut back on production of europium oxide, along with other rare earth minerals. Chinese officials claim that the cutbacks are due to efforts to reduce pollution from the mining of such minerals, although it is more likely that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to manipulate the prices of key materials needed for all kinds of electronic and other consumer items.

 

The reduced availability of europium oxide also is impacting green technologies like wind turbines and electric motors, creating a “chilling effect” on the development of the alternative energy sector, Michael N. Silver, chairman and chief executive of American Elements, told The New York Times. Europium oxide is also used to produce plasma TVs.

 

According to General Electric, which manufactures fluorescent light bulbs, if the price jump of europium oxide in the past year was applied to coffee, a $2 cup would cost $24.55.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

China Consolidates Grip on Rare Earths (by Keith Bradsher, New York Times)

How to Free the World from China’s Rare-Earth Stranglehold (by Brad Plumer, Washington Post)

Rare Earth Prices Double in Two Weeks as China Seeks to Increase Control (by Jason Scott, Bloomberg)

Rare Earth FAQs (General Electric) (pdf)