School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Jun 21;56(12):8682-8690. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.1c07724. Epub 2022 May 11.
Dysprosium (Dy) is a critical rare earth element and plays an indispensable role in clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines and electric vehicles. However, its flows and stocks in the whole life cycle and potential barriers to sustainable supply remain unclear, although the demand for Dy is increasing and its reserves are limited. This study aims to track China's Dy cycle for the period of 2000 to 2019 by employing dynamic material flow analysis. The results show that (1) demand for Dy had increased by 117-fold, with an accumulative use of 37,317 tons, of which 50% was obtained from illegal mining; (2) 33% of the overall Dy resource was used in wind turbines in 2019, followed by air conditioners and electric vehicles (22 and 17%, respectively); (3) China's net Dy export had increased by 10-fold from 2000 to 2019, with Dy concentrates and final products being the dominant import and export products, respectively. Illegal mining, inadequate recycling policies, and limited Dy supply sources are potential barriers influencing sustainable Dy supply.
镝（Dy）是一种关键的稀土元素，在风力涡轮机和电动汽车等清洁能源技术中发挥着不可或缺的作用。然而，尽管对 Dy 的需求不断增加，但其储量有限，其在整个生命周期中的流动和存量以及可持续供应的潜在障碍仍不清楚。本研究旨在通过动态物质流分析来追踪中国 2000 年至 2019 年的 Dy 循环。结果表明：（1）Dy 的需求增长了 117 倍，累计使用量达到 37317 吨，其中 50%来自非法开采；（2）2019 年，33%的总 Dy 资源用于风力涡轮机，其次是空调和电动汽车（分别为 22%和 17%）；（3）2000 年至 2019 年，中国 Dy 的净出口增长了 10 倍，Dy 精矿和最终产品分别是主要的进出口产品。非法开采、回收政策不足和 Dy 供应来源有限是影响 Dy 可持续供应的潜在障碍。
