Designing Technology Without Rare Earths

Growing demand for AI, electric vehicles and data centers is intensifying pressure to reduce reliance on scarce rare-earth minerals.

Critical materials—broadly described as rare earth minerals and elements—include cobalt, lithium, manganese, graphite and silicon-derived materials, plus less familiar metals such as neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, yttrium and europium. These substances enable high-performance magnets, batteries, LED displays and medical imaging components, and are increasingly strained by expanding markets.

Supply is constrained by limited deposits, energy-intensive refining and concentrated production, creating vulnerability to geopolitical disruption. That combination—scarcity, extraction difficulty and geopolitics—raises the practical question for engineers and manufacturers: how to deliver required performance while using far less, or none, of these materials.

The transition will be challenging but not unprecedented. The electronics industry eliminated lead after regulatory pressure and sustained R&D; a similar mix of targeted policy, investment and design innovation could reduce rare-earth dependence. Approaches include material substitution, magnet and battery chemistry redesign, efficient recycling, and system-level optimization to lower material intensity.

For companies and policymakers, prioritizing materials research and supply diversification is both a risk-management imperative and a business opportunity that can lower geopolitical exposure while supporting sustainable technology growth.