Context: Rare earth elements from fly ash
NLC India Ltd., Neyveli, Tamil Nadu, in collaboration with BARC, is planning India’s first project to extract Rare Earth Elements from fly ash generated by lignite-based thermal power plants.
The project aims to create a domestic source of strategic minerals, reduce import dependence and utilise industrial waste productively.
Rare Earth Elements
Rare Earth Elements are a group of 17 elements.
They include:
- 15 Lanthanides
- Scandium
- Yttrium
Uses of Rare Earth Elements
Rare Earth Elements are critical for:
- Electric Vehicles
- Wind turbines
- Electronics
- Defence systems
- Medical equipment
- Artificial Intelligence hardware
- Robotics
- Space exploration
- Permanent magnets
- Display technologies
REEs Identified in Neyveli Fly Ash
- Neodymium
- Praseodymium
- Europium
- Cerium
- Lanthanum
- Samarium
- Gadolinium
- Lutetium
Fly Ash
Fly ash is fine ash produced during coal or lignite combustion in thermal power plants.
Common Uses of Fly Ash
- Bricks
- Cement
- Concrete
- Road construction
- Embankment construction
What Is the News About?
The core idea is that India wants to recover valuable rare earth elements from fly ash, which was earlier treated largely as a waste product.
Why Is It Important?
1. Critical Mineral Security
It reduces dependence on imported rare earths, particularly from China.
2. Circular Economy
It converts industrial waste into a valuable economic resource.
3. Clean Energy Transition
It supports domestic manufacturing of:
- Electric Vehicles
- Wind turbines
- Advanced electronics
4. Environmental Benefit
It helps utilise large quantities of fly ash generated by thermal power plants.
PYQ Facts
- Rare Earth Elements are a group of 17 elements, not 13.
- Some Rare Earth Elements are used in flat television screens and computer monitors because of their phosphorescent properties.
- Fly ash can be used in bricks and as a partial replacement for Portland cement.
- Fly ash may contain toxic elements, so it is not only silicon dioxide and calcium oxide.
