Rare Earth Exchanges

Early geothermal plants relied on relatively simple steam expansion hardware and conservative materials choices, which limited efficiency and uptime when brine chemistry, non-condensable gases, and particulate carryover were harsh. Modern geothermal turbines broaden what resources are usable by improving sealing, corrosion and erosion resistance, control precision, and genera...

Today’s electric-motor-system industry is spending enormous effort trying to replace rare-earth permanent magnets. But almost everyone is leaving one fundamental assumption untouched: the passive rotor.

Editor’s summary. In this guest essay, Best Electric Machine’s chief technology officer argues that most rare-earth-free motor work replaces the...

Before solar thermal towers, many large solar plants were either instant-only, producing power only when the sun shines, or required separate fuel-fired systems to remain dispatchable. Power towers changed this by pairing concentrated sunlight with high-temperature heat and thermal storage, better aligning output with evening demand peaks and grid reliability needs. Solar the...

Most rare earths come out of hard rock. The heavy ones often come out of clay.

Ion-adsorption clay behaves nothing like the ores that dominate Western mining plans. That difference explains both why it matters and why it does not solve the supply problem on its own.

These deposits start as granite. Over long periods of warm...

Early offshore wind construction relied on smaller jack-up barges with limited crane capacity and narrow weather windows, constraining turbine size and water depth. Modern wind turbine installation vessels now enable higher hook heights, heavier lifts, and precise station-keeping that directly supports 14 to 18 MW turbines and larger rotors in harsher metocean conditions. Rar...