The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Critical Minerals Alliances - August 7, 2025
Tellurium's intrinsic semiconductor properties are being leveraged to transform light and heat into clean energy.
The tellurium radiator-generator developed by PyroDelta eliminates the need for alternators that drag on engines and lower fuel mileage.
The thin film solar panels produced by First Solar are driving growing demand for tellurium.
Up to half of the energy consumed by data centers is lost as waste heat, and even more energy is expended to keep the servers cool.
Extremely rare, extraordinary, and critical to the energy transition, tellurium is one of the early success stories in the United States' effort to decouple its critical mineral supply chains from China.
As one of the scarcest of the solid elements on the periodic table, tellurium is a name that has traditionally not been part of the American lexicon outside of geology and chemistry classes.
Much like many of the other metalloids, elements with traits that fall between metals and non-metals, tellurium is beginning to rise from obscurity as an increasingly important ingredient to the U.S.'s transition to clean energy.
Tellurium's rise in popularity is due to its unique ability to transform both sunlight and heat into zero-emission electricity.
The largest current need for the metalloid is for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) solar technology, which is less popular than traditional silicon panels internationally but represents the top photovoltaic solar technology in the U.S. According to the Department of Energy's 2023 Critical Materials Assessment, CdTe panels account for more than half of all new solar installations in the U.S.
An emerging demand driver is through the use of thermoelectric generators, which transform waste heat from industrial plants, data centers, vehicles, and other sources into clean electricity.
In its Critical Minerals Assessment, DOE expressed concerns that tellurium shortages could short-circuit CdTe solar panel growth and future clean energy technologies.
"Without significant expansion of the tellurium supply capacity, shortages of Te could occur in the short term (2025) and are likely in the medium term (2025-2035)," the Energy Department penned in its Critical Minerals Assessment.
Mining major Rio Tinto answered the call through the recovery of tellurium as a critical mineral byproduct at its Kennecott copper mine in Utah. This initiative helped cut U.S. dependence on foreign nations for its tellurium supply from greater than 95% in 2023 to less than 25% last year.
This self-reliance means that American manufacturers, Washington policymakers, and Pentagon officials have one less element to worry about as China ratchets up critical mineral export restrictions.
The thin film solar panels produced by First Solar are driving growing demand for tellurium.
Tellurium's elevated profile is largely due to the success of First Solar Inc., the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S. and the world's leading producer of CdTe panels.
While slightly less efficient than traditional silicon panels, First Solar's tellurium-based thin-film modules are cheaper to produce and outperform in high-temperature environments, making them ideal for industrial and utility-scale applications.
In 2024, First Solar produced 15.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels – enough to power roughly 2.5 million average-sized U.S. homes. With its capacity growing about 25% annually, the company anticipates reaching nearly 20 GW in 2025.
While First Solar's domestic expansion of CdTe solar cells is pushing up the demand for tellurium – a primary reason DOE was concerned about shortages – only a small amount of the powerful semiconductor metalloid is needed for the thin-film panels to convert sunlight into electricity.
As a result, only about 1,000 metric tons of the extremely rare metalloid were produced globally in 2024, according to the United States Geological Survey. And thanks in large part to Rio Tinto's new recovery plant in Utah, essentially all the tellurium needed in the U.S. is now produced domestically.
With a reliable domestic supply, the USGS reports that tellurium prices in the U.S. fell 5% last year to $75 per kilogram, while European manufacturers experienced a 4% increase to $80/kg due to higher costs of purchasing the critical metalloid from China.
Following China's February 2024 move to restrict tellurium exports, prices surged to nearly $110/kg before settling into the $100/kg range this year. China still controls about 75% of the global tellurium supply.
Solar remains the primary use for tellurium, accounting for roughly 60% of U.S. consumption last year, but this semiconductor element is also driving innovations in thermoelectric technology that could be pivotal to the clean energy transition.
First Tellurium, a mineral exploration company advancing tellurium-enriched projects in British Columbia and Colorado, created a new tech company to develop next-generation thermoelectric devices for automotive, high-tech, and everyday applications.
Thermoelectric generation is not a new concept; however, the technology has primarily been applied to generating electricity from waste heat in industrial applications.
PyroDelta Energy, the thermoelectric subsidiary created by First Tellurium, is developing tellurium-enhanced thermoelectric generators with the potential to substantially reduce energy usage and costs across many sectors of the global economy by converting the heat radiated by vehicles, computers, industrial plants, and AI data centers into clean electricity.
In addition to generating clean and low-cost power, thermoelectric devices eliminate the need for cooling systems that require added energy to operate – think engine radiators, computer fans, or the enormous cooling systems required to keep data centers cool.
"The PyroDelta thermoelectric generator has been in research and development for eight years," said PyroDelta Head of Engineering Michael Abdelmaseh, who previously worked as an engineer for Toyota and General Motors. "We have proven its ability to generate electricity from temperature differentials far more extreme than thermoelectric devices currently on the market."
Considering that it is estimated that 20% to 50% of all energy consumed worldwide is lost as heat, PyroDelta's thermoelectric generators offer a means of converting this wasted byproduct into a new source of clean energy to power data-driven 21st-century technologies.
The company is currently focused on two applications that have enormous commercial and energy transition implications – automobiles and data centers.
The tellurium radiator-generator developed by PyroDelta eliminates the need for alternators that drag on engines and lower fuel mileage.
On the automotive front, PyroDelta has developed and tested a thermoelectric generator to replace the alternator and radiator in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Unlike belt-driven alternators and traditional radiators, PyroDelta's device cools the engine while generating electricity simultaneously, reducing engine drag and improving fuel economy.
The company recently drove a 1996 Mitsubishi minivan retrofitted with the device 800 miles, with results confirming effective engine cooling and sufficient electricity generation.
"We are confident this will provide significant fuel savings for combustion engines, and we believe it represents a revolution in automobile electrical generation," said First Tellurium CEO Tyrone Docherty.
One of the reasons First Tellurium and PyroDelta executives believe the device could be revolutionary is that it requires minimal redesign for integrating in current and past vehicles.
"Whether it's installed on an assembly line or retrofitted into a used vehicle, the engine compartment remains unchanged," explained Abdelmaseh. "The device can also be mounted in a variety of places in the car. These advantages will be crucial for industry adoption going forward."
The concept could also support hybrid systems where engine heat charges EV batteries, enhancing fuel efficiency and lowering emissions.
Up to half of the energy consumed by data centers is lost as waste heat, and even more energy is expended to keep the servers cool.
While the automotive potential is enormous, the rapid expansion of data centers to meet the computing demands of AI, bitcoin mining, and cloud computing offers an even bigger need for the cooling and clean energy-producing capabilities offered by thermoelectric generators.
Data centers currently account for around 4.4% of total energy consumption in the U.S., and the Department of Energy estimates that number could increase to as high as 12% by 2028.
"We must meet that demand," Energy Secretary Chris Wright responded to a question by Fox News correspondent Brett Baier on data center energy consumption. "China is going all out on AI, and it has massive national security implications. We need to stay ahead in the AI space."
With as much as half of the energy consumed by data centers lost as heat, thermoelectric generators have the potential to recover vast amounts of energy while also ensuring the heat generated does not fry the circuits of these massive computational complexes.
PyroDelta's radiator-alternator thermoelectric design, developed for ICE vehicles, is being adapted for larger-scale cooling systems and clean energy generators for data centers.
"With only minor modifications, it appears the generator can provide significant energy savings for data centers and other users," said Docherty. "We are currently working with an AI provider to test the device and measure its effectiveness."
Tellurium-enhanced thermoelectric generators could be used to extend the range of EVs and drones, improve solar panel efficiency, power greenhouses, and provide an off-grid source of emergency electricity that does not rely on sunshine.
"We believe these potential applications will continue to expand as the technology is refined and demonstrated," said Docherty.
The thermoelectric devices being developed by PyroDelta have captured the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and RESOLVE Inc., a Washington, DC-based non-governmental organization focused on sustainable solutions.
With this type of high-profile backing, the potentially game-changing technology being developed by PyroDelta could help overcome some of the biggest hurdles in the energy transition and elevate tellurium as a well-known element of the clean energy lexicon.
With more than 17 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration, and technology metals.
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