US advocates for continued fossil fuel development
At a panel on integrating energy security within a broader security network, acting US Assistant Secretary for Energy – Tommy Joyce delivered a blunt assessment of clean energy technology vulnerabilities, directly challenging the European push for rapid decarbonization.
“For true energy security, we must leverage all resources that are affordable, that are available, and that are secure,” Joyce said. “It’s about energy addition, not subtraction. And there’s no world in which the demand for energy is going to decrease.”
Joyce emphasized the vulnerability of renewable energy supply chains to geopolitical tensions, particularly regarding critical minerals dominated by Chinese production. He highlighted specific concerns about rare earth elements essential for green technologies.
“A typical offshore wind turbine requires four tonnes of a permanent magnet made in the form of rare earth elements. And since China, the supplier of nearly all of them, has restricted their sale, there are no wind turbines without concessions to or coercion from China,” Joyce told attendees.
On April 4, the US Ministry of Commerce issued a statement announcing export controls on medium and heavy rare earth-related products made from samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. The list included high-performance neodymium iron boron (NdFeB)-containing dysprosium or terbium, and samarium cobalt rare earth magnets.
The largest earth content in NdFeB magnets for offshore wind turbines is a combination of two light rare earth elements – neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr). This makes up around one-third of a finished magnet.
There is significant production of NdPr outside China, mainly by Japanese government-backed Australian rare earth miner Lynas Rare Earths. But the large NdFeB magnets are made in China, which controls more than 90% of global magnet supply.
Fastmarkets most recently assessed the price of neodymium-praseodymium oxide 99% ratio (75:25), fob China, at $57-59 per kg on April 24, down by $1 per kg from $59-60 per kg on April 17 on weak demand from Chinese downstream magnet manufacturers. The corresponding price for neodymium-praseodymium metal (Nd 75% Pr 25%), fob China, was assessed at $71-73 per kg on the same day, down by $1 per kg from $72-74 per kg seven days earlier.
Joyce criticised climate-focused policies as “harmful and dangerous” while highlighting the US position among the world’s top oil, gas and nuclear producers, and fourth-largest coal producer.
According to Joyce, since 2023, the US has also become the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). He warned that grids built mainly around wind and solar power would face serious reliability issues, citing Puerto Rico’s transition as a cautionary tale.
Puerto Rico has been grappling with an energy crisis for years, marked by frequent blackouts, poor maintenance, and a fragile grid worsened by natural disasters and mismanagement. Despite efforts to integrate renewables and to switch to natural gas, the island’s transition has been chaotic and unreliable. On April 16 this year, a massive blackout plunged more than 1.4 million people into darkness when all the island’s power plants went offline without warning.
“Traditional grids begin failing,” he said, after the island added 30% wind and solar. He argued that modernized, renewables-heavy grids were “exponentially more expensive” and said that there were a security risk if they led to over-reliance on intermittent power.
“We oppose these harmful and dangerous policies. This is not energy security, and we know exactly where it leads,” Joyce said, referring to climate-driven transition goals.
France calls for ‘European Marshall Plan for electrification’
Taking a contrasting position, French industry and energy minister Marc Ferracci argued that Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels represented its greatest vulnerability.
“As long as we remain massively dependent on fossil fuels, there will be no energy security for Europe,” Ferracci said. “We need to accelerate the phasing-out of imported energy, and this means decarbonization and electrification.”
Ferracci called for a “European Marshall Plan for electrification” and faster development of strategic autonomy on clean technologies, explicitly responding to critical mineral concerns raised by other speakers.
Ferracci specifically addressed apprehensions about dependence on imported energy technologies, saying that “we also must be less dependent on imported technologies, because otherwise there will be no energy security in Europe.
“Energy supply is used as a weapon. This is what we see right now,” Ferracci said, calling for Europe to develop a security doctrine “fit for the 21st century.”
Critical minerals ‘building blocks of clean transition,’ Von der Leyen says
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reinforced the European position in her keynote address, describing how the EU had reduced its energy dependence on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
“As our energy dependency on fossil fuels goes down, our energy security goes up. That is the lesson we have learned in Europe,” von der Leyen said. “We reduced our vulnerability to Russian fossil fuels by accelerating the rollout of homegrown renewable energy.”
According to von der Leyen, this was the best means to ensure energy security in the medium term.
“The progress is already visible,” she said. “Renewables now account for 47% of our electricity mix. Solar and wind are our two fastest-growing energy sources. Last year alone, we installed 78 gigawatts of new renewable capacity, that is enough to power London 16 times over.”
In her speech, von der Leyen pointed to an affordable energy action plan that the EC presented earlier this year, intended to boost EU energy and electricity electrification projects. “It will help us to complete interconnections and grids so that wind from the North Sea and solar from Spain can power homes and industries across our continent,” she said.
Von der Leyen countered Joyce’s warnings of clean energy vulnerability by emphasizing that Europe’s diversified clean energy strategy has already reduced Russian gas imports by two-thirds and gas consumption by 20% since 2021.
“This shows that the clean transition strengthens our energy security,” she said, highlighting critical raw materials as one of five key areas requiring international cooperation. “These minerals are the building blocks of the clean transition.”
Von der Leyen also pointed out that the EU has signed ten strategic raw materials agreements with partner countries, including a clean trade and investment partnership with South Africa worth €4.4 billion ($4.6 billion) that would secure supply chain access. The agreements form part of the EU’s broader Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) strategy to enhance resource security.
Von der Leyen referred to EU partnerships with Canada, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Argentina, Chile, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uzbekistan and Serbia. These non-binding Memoranda of Understanding focus on developing integrated value chains and joint projects rather than just raw material extraction.
The CRMA came into force on May 23, 2024, and was designed to support Europe’s sustainable and resilient supply of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) and Strategic Raw Materials (SRMs) essential to the bloc’s economy and strategic sectors.
CRMs include antimony, manganese, niobium and tantalum, while – appearing on both lists, among others – are bismuth, cobalt, gallium, germanium, lithium, magnesium metal, natural graphite and silicon metal.
Caroline Messecar and Solomon Cefai in London contributed to this report.
Want to learn more? At Fastmarkets, we offer price data, forecasting and analysis on key commodities in the electric vehicle sector. Speak to one of our experts to learn more today.
