Vietnam hopes to strengthen research cooperation in rare earth resources / Vietnam rare earth resources
In early June, Vietnam Media issued an article introducing Reuters’ interview with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen N. Chung on rare earth mining and renewable energy.
Qi Chunfu said that Vietnam hopes to strengthen research cooperation in rare earth mineral resources, promote high-tech transfer in development and deep processing, and aims to introduce environmentally-friendly products with high added value, and never take the environment in exchange for economic growth. He believes that Vietnam has great potential for the development of green and renewable energy.
The reporter asked:
Mr. Prime Minister, it is learned that at the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, you will attend the G7 summit expansion meeting in June. One of the main topics of the conference is about climate change, oceans and green energy. At present, investors from around the world believe that Vietnam has great potential for the development of renewable energy.
Please tell us how Vietnam has promoted and facilitated the investment in green renewable energy. For example, Vietnam has a large reserve of rare earths. Has the resource been used to manufacture batteries that serve the production of solar energy? How is Vietnam planning to carry out rare earth development and extraction activities?
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Chun-Fu:
Vietnam has great potential for the development of green and renewable energy. The average annual wind power in Vietnam is expected to reach 500-1000 kWh/m2; the average annual sunshine will be from 2500-3000 hours. According to a report issued by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) in June 2017, the potential of wind power in Vietnam is about 215,000 MV and solar energy is about 340,000 MV. In addition, as a country with large-scale agricultural production, Vietnam has a wealth of raw materials for the development of biological energy. Therefore, Vietnam has the conditions to vigorously develop renewable energy, so as to gradually reduce fossil energy.
Vietnam is actively implementing the renewable energy development strategy by 2030. Looking forward to 2050, it encourages various social resources to invest in the development of renewable energy, vigorously promotes and uses renewable energy, and increases the proportion of renewable energy in the national energy system. Vietnam rare earth resources
Several specific targets in the renewable energy development strategy include: fulfilling the commitment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% by 2020; reducing the use of 40 million tons of coal and 3.7 million tons in 2030 Petroleum products; will increase the production of renewable energy from 58 billion kwh in 2015 to 101 billion kwh in 2020 and 186 billion kwh in 2030; the proportion of households using solar energy equipment from 2015 4.3% increase to 12% in 2020 and 26% in 2030; in 2030, it strives for biological fuel production to meet 13% of the fuel needs of the transportation sector. Vietnam rare earth resources
In order to achieve the above objectives, the Vietnamese government is implementing a number of preferential policy mechanisms on land, tariffs, prices, guarantees, and encouraging public-private partnerships, including projects that encourage the development of solar energy. At present, the government is also considering adjusting the price of wind power so as to attract more investment in this area.
In addition to renewable energy, Vietnam has many mineral resources, including rare earths. Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest reserves of rare earths in the world (ranked third in the world) and its total reserves are expected to exceed 20 million tons. We hope to strengthen research cooperation and promote the transfer of high technology in development and deep processing, aiming to introduce high value-added, environment-friendly products, and never take the environment in exchange for economic growth.
According to the latest statistics from USGS, the production of rare earth (REO equivalent) in Vietnam was only 100 tons in 2017, which was less than half of 2016.
Vietnam rare earth resources
world mine production and reserves
