Critical Materials takes a case-study approach, describing materials supply-chain failures from the bronze age to present day. It looks at why these failures occurred, what the consequences were, and how they were resolved. It identifies key lessons to guide responses to current and anticipated materials shortages at a time when the world's growing middle class is creating unprecedented demand for manufactured products and the increasingly exotic materials that go into them. This book serves as a guide to materials researchers and industrial end-users for finding effective approaches to shortages of specialty materials. The lessons in the book are also appropriate to those who use materials and for those involved in manufacturing supply-chain management and industrial design. - Instructs the reader on how to select the most effective strategies to deal with materials supply-chain failures - Discusses technical feasibility, economic viability and the political context - Includes an extensive use of case studies to illustrate key concepts of criticality

As the importance and dependence of specific mineral commodities increase, so does concern about their supply. The United States is currently 100 percent reliant on foreign sources for 20 mineral commodities and imports the majority of its supply of more than 50 mineral commodities. Mineral commodities that have important uses and face potential supply disruption are critical to American economic and national security. However, a mineral commodity's importance and the nature of its supply chain can change with time; a mineral commodity that may not have been considered critical 25 years ago may be critical today, and one considered critical today may not be so in the future. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced this volume to describe a select group of mineral commodities currently critical to our economy and security. For each mineral commodity covered, the authors provide a comprehensive look at (1) the commodity's use; (2) the geology and global distribution of the mineral deposit types that account for the present and possible future supply of the commodity; (3) the current status of production, reserves, and resources in the United States and globally; and (4) environmental considerations related to the commodity's production from different types of mineral deposits. The volume describes U.S. critical mineral resources in a global context, for no country can be self-sufficient for all its mineral commodity needs, and the United States will always rely on global mineral commodity supply chains. This volume provides the scientific understanding of critical mineral resources required for informed decisionmaking by those responsible for ensuring that the United States has a secure and sustainable supply of mineral commodities.

This report examines the role of rare earth metals and other materials in the clean energy economy. It was prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) based on data collected and research performed during 2010. In the report, DoE describes plans to: (1) develop its first integrated research agenda addressing critical materials, building on three technical workshops convened by the DoE during November and December 2010; (2) strengthen its capacity for information-gathering on this topic; and (3) work closely with international partners, including Japan and Europe, to reduce vulnerability to supply disruptions and address critical material needs. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

"This book covers a new frontier of research in Critical Materials that provides insight in terms of the possible sustainable mitigation strategies, the complexity, broadness and multi-disciplinarity of the subject. By exploring in both "systems view" and "in-depth materials view" in the light of circular economy, this book tackles the problem of sustainable usage of materials that is closely intertwined with the energy issue and climate change. Topics covered include: geopolitics of materials, the energy-materials nexus, definitions of the criticality of materials, circular product design, the development of alternative materials (substitution), sustainable mining and recycling"--

Much attention has been focused on U.S. dependency on imports for supplies of strategic minerals and materials. There is alarm about the extent of that dependency and about the possibility that U.S. economic, political, and strategic decisions might be unduly influenced by arbitrary actions of foreign suppliers. In addition, there is concern that t