How Bloom Energy Is Building A Sustainable Scandium Supply Chain

Behind every advanced energy technology is a network of materials, manufacturing processes, and supply chains that make large-scale production possible. One example is scandium oxide, a material used in Bloom Energy’s solid oxide fuel cells. Behind every Bloom Energy supply chain decision is the challenge of sourcing specialized materials while maintaining resilience and scalability.

The result is an approach that demonstrates how sustainable supply chains can be just as important as the technologies they support.

At the heart of every Bloom fuel cell is a ceramic electrolyte made primarily from zirconium oxide. This thin layer plays a critical role in the fuel cell’s operation by allowing oxygen ions to move through the system, where they react with fuels such as natural gas or hydrogen to generate electricity without combustion.

To improve the electrolyte’s performance, Bloom adds a small amount of scandium oxide. Materials scientists refer to this as a dopant—a material introduced in small quantities to enhance the properties of another material. In this case, scandium oxide helps improve the conductivity of the electrolyte, contributing to greater power density, durability, and fuel efficiency.

Although scandium oxide represents only a tiny fraction of the ceramic material, its impact on performance is significant.

Scandium is often described as a rare element, but it is actually more abundant in Earth’s crust than lead. The challenge is not a lack of scandium; it is the fact that scandium rarely occurs in concentrated ores that are economically practical to mine.

Unlike metals such as iron or copper, which can often be extracted from rich ore deposits, scandium is dispersed across many different minerals in relatively small quantities. Recovering it through dedicated mining operations would require processing enormous amounts of material, making it difficult to justify economically.

Rather than relying on primary scandium mines, the Bloom supply chain uses a more practical approach to sourcing scandium oxide. Many industrial processes already handle materials that naturally contain scandium, including the production of titanium, nickel, cobalt, and uranium. After these primary materials are extracted, small amounts of scandium remain within the process streams and industrial byproducts.

Instead of viewing these residual materials as waste, they can become valuable sources of scandium oxide.

Bloom Energy’s scandium oxide strategy

 relies on proprietary processes that enable the recovery of the compound from these existing industrial streams. By leveraging materials that are already being processed at large scale, the company can access scandium oxide without depending on dedicated mining operations.

This approach transforms industrial byproducts into useful inputs for advanced energy technologies.

Titanium production provides a useful example of the potential scale available through byproduct recovery.

Globally, around 10 million metric tons of titanium ore are processed every year, much of it for the production of titanium dioxide used in products such as white paint. More than half of this processing occurs outside China. These operations generate waste streams that contain recoverable scandium oxide.

Several hundred tons of scandium oxide can be produced annually from titanium-related industrial activities alone. Additional recovery opportunities exist through other mineral processing industries as well.

This means that scandium oxide supply chains can be supported by industrial activities that are already occurring around the world rather than relying on extraction.

In today’s manufacturing environment, supply chain resilience is becoming increasingly important. Advanced technologies often depend on specialized materials, making diversification a key consideration for long-term growth. Bloom has spent years developing proprietary knowledge, recovery methods, and supplier relationships that support a diversified scandium oxide sourcing strategy.

Rather than relying on a single country such as China, Bloom Energy sources scandium oxide through a diversified network of suppliers in multiple countries. This diversified approach helps reduce the risks associated with supplier concentration while providing flexibility as production scales.

No single supplier or country determines its scandium oxide supply, an important consideration as critical minerals continue to attract global attention. Specifically, Bloom Energy is not dependent on China for scandium.

As demand for cleaner and more reliable energy technologies grows, manufacturers must ensure that their supply chains can keep pace. Bloom states that its current scandium oxide supply chain can support up to 25 gigawatts of annual production capacity.

These efforts reflect a broader reality facing many industries today: Innovation is no longer limited to product design. Success increasingly depends on creating resilient systems and diversified supply chains that support manufacturing at scale.

Bloom’s approach demonstrates how innovation can extend beyond a product to include the materials needed to make it. By developing methods to recover scandium oxide from industrial processes and building a global sourcing network, the company is advancing the growth of its solid oxide fuel cell technology.

As the world continues to seek solutions for growing energy needs, advancements in materials recovery, supply chain resilience, and manufacturing scalability will play an increasingly important role. Bloom Energy’s scandium sourcing strategy provides a compelling example of how thoughtful supply chain design can support the technologies powering the future.