Hydrogen is being touted as the panacea to solve Europe’s energy crisis. Politicians from Brussels to Berlin speak with conviction of hydrogen’s ability to enable European industry to decarbonize, allow the European grid to stabilize, and provide stability to Europe’s future. Investors are announcing billions of euros worth of investments, pilot projects are being initiated, and hydrogen is being touted as the fuel that will carry the European Green Transition.
There is a disturbing reality underlying this optimism
Technologies that create clean energy require much more than simply a clean source of fuel; they also require a sophisticated network of supply chains, physical resources, and industrial inputs, which rarely get highlighted. As such, without a reliable supply of these resources (and others), even the most ambitious climate strategies remain nothing more than theory.
For several years, Europe has silently accepted a paradox – it wants to be independent of foreign energy supplies, but at the same time relies heavily on foreign suppliers for the materials necessary to produce that energy independence. All of the major components of today’s clean energy technologies (wind turbines, electric motors, batteries, and hydrogen systems) rely on foreign-sourced components.
Due to the lack of viable alternatives and the political difficulties associated with creating domestic sources of these materials, this paradox had previously remained relatively unchallenged.
Fuels created by wind turbines and solar panels: A game changer
When people began to focus on what made the fuels created by wind turbines and solar panels functional, everything changed.
Inside the Kiruna region of Northern Sweden, state-owned mining company LKAB announced the discovery of Europe’s largest known deposit of rare earth metals in February 2026. The metals discovered are essential to the creation of both the electric vehicle motors and wind turbine blades required for the deployment of renewable energy systems throughout Europe.
Rare earth metals have historically been one of Europe’s greatest strategic weaknesses
According to LKAB, the potential for the deposit to play a key role in supplying the necessary raw materials for Europe’s green transition and reducing its reliance on imports exists. The timing of the announcement couldn’t have been worse for Europe. At present, Europe relies heavily on China not only for the extraction of rare earth minerals but also for their processing.
The current level of dependence has alarmed many European policymakers, who fear that rare earth supplies could potentially be constrained or politicized in the future due to increasing geopolitical tensions and the use of supply chains as a tool of leverage.
China’s growing control of rare earth minerals: Could they hinder Europe’s access?
Just before the LKAB announcement, The Guardian reported on China’s growing control of rare earth mineral mining operations supplying Europe, and the increasing concern that European access to these critical materials could be impacted or restricted by China in the future. This reinforced fears that European clean-energy ambitions remain vulnerable.
The Kiruna discovery eliminates none of the risks surrounding Europe’s dependence on rare earth minerals overnight. The extraction process of rare earth metals is complicated, environmentally sensitive, and is subject to some of the most stringent environmental regulations in Europe. Additionally, LKAB has stated that extracting the deposit would likely take decades. However, the strategic implications of the discovery are already evident; Europe now knows that the materials necessary to support the growth of its renewable energy industry are available on its own soil.
This realization fundamentally shifts the nature of the discussion regarding Europe’s renewable energy ambitions. While hydrogen may be able to power the future of energy in Europe, rare earth metals will determine whether that future can be built. Without them, wind turbines do not turn, electric motors do not spin, and renewable energy infrastructure does not grow.