Manufacturers: CEO of a Wind Turbine Manufacturer

Your Background and Biography

Born in Germany in the 1960s, you grew up in a country eager to look to the future rather than the past. Your inventive curiosity led you to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering. You went on to find your niche in the energy and power-generation industry, steadily rising through the ranks to become CEO of a wind power company. After a significant merger the company became the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer.

You believe wind power is the future of global energy and fought for this newly merged company to focus its mission firmly on sustainable development. You have found that commercial success and sustainable practices can work hand in hand, and you strive to be a leader and an example for the industry in that regard. However, wind power has recently come under scrutiny for its use of rare earth elements in the production of essential components.

The rare earth elements neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium are important to the wind turbines your company makes. These metals are essential to the permanent magnets used in the direct-drive turbines you build for offshore installations. Rare earths make these turbines lighter and help lower maintenance concerns, which is crucial for a turbine installed in the ocean.

As you continue to craft a sustainable supply chain for your products, your dependence on rare earth elements has decreased but not disappeared. While you would like to cut them out of your supply chain entirely, there is simply no way to do so yet.  In negotiations for a Sustainability Seal you are focused on creating guiding values for the mining and production of rare earth metals to meet high sustainable standards without creating skyrocketing costs.

Your Mission

Your goal at this hearing is to convince the Stewardship Council to include the Manufacturers Group’s recommendations in its final Sustainability Seal guiding values. To make this argument effectively, you must do the following:

• Complete the assigned readings listed at the bottom of this page.

• Work closely with the other members of your group to develop clear answers to the Stewardship Council’s questions.

• Use as much specific information as possible to develop strong arguments for your position that the price of sustainably certified rare earth metals needs to cover the true cost of production and environmental protection, and investment in innovative production methods should be promoted to reduce social and environmental harms.

• Read as much as you can about your position and the positions of the other groups.

• Complete written reflections on your character, interest group, and readings as assigned.

Your Victory Objectives

• You will receive 10 points if the Stewards select your group’s proposal as the final Sustainability Seal guiding values.

• The Stewards will rank the interest groups by how well their goals are represented in the final Sustainability Seal guiding values. You will receive between 1 and 4 points based on how the Producers Group is ranked and how well the Sustainability Seal guiding values reflect your goals.

Sources

Group Sources

• Manufacturers Case Study: “Using the Rare Earth Elements.”

• Ma, Alexandra. “From iPhones to Fighter Jets: Here’s a List of American Products That Could Be Affected If China Banned Rare-Earth Metal Exports to the US as a Trade-War Weapon.” Business Insider, May 21, 2019.

Individual Sources

• Davidson, Ros. “Wind Industry Prepares for ‘Bottlenecks and Price Hikes’ in Rare Earth Metals.” Foresight Climate and Energy, republished at Medium.com, August 23, 2019.

• Dodd, Jan. “Rethinking the Use of Rare-Earth Elements.” Wind Power Monthly, November 30, 2018.

• Stone, Maddie. “Offshore Wind Has a Looming Rare Earth Metals Problem.” Earther: Gizmodo, April 5, 2019.