U.S Department of Energy researchers have found a possible replacement for dysprosium, an expensive rare-earth element commonly found in magnets used in cars and wind turbines.

Dysprosium, which was initially chosen because of its resistance to high temperatures, has been found to no longer be the best element to create strong magnets out of. The new element, cerium, has been used before in unsuccessful attempts to be magnetized, as the creation method had a much lower than needed Curie temperature. The new method, to researcher’s delight, trumps the maximum temperature of dysprosium.

Co-doping, the new method of creating the alloy, combines cerium, cobalt, iron, and boron. The resulting material is a stronger and between 20 to 40 percent cheaper than current magnets containing dysprosium. This could eliminate the need for dysprosium, one of the “scarcest and costliest” rare earth elements, according to HNGN.

Research leader Karl Gschneidner is happy with the discovery as “This is quite an exciting result, we found that this material works better than anything out there at temperatures above 150 degrees celsius. It’s an important consideration for high temperature applications.”

The creation of this new alloy will allow for a reduced reliance on dysprosium in the automobile and renewable energy industry, which will over time create a lower price for all relative items. It will also help the preservation of the increasingly rarer dysprosium.