The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
Technetium, which has the chemical symbol Tc, is the 43rd element in the periodic table. All of its known isotopes are radioactive. One isotope – one that is actually quite difficult to obtain – 98Tc, has a half-life of 4.2 million years, still far too short to have survived the 4.5 billion years since the accretion of the earth from the supernovae ejecta from which it formed. It is unlikely that there is even 100 … [Read more...]
What is the single most significant barrier to widespread use of alternative energy? Is it the right wing climate change skeptics? No. It’s economics. If there is not money to be made at the same scale as in the fossil fuel industry, and if renewable, clean energy does not become cheaper than fossil fuels, alternative energy doesn’t stand a chance in the free market.As technology moves often faster than society, politics, … [Read more...]
The piece is being cross-posted from Science Progress, and can be found here, and is part of a series called “UpStart,” which focuses on innovative companies in the clean energy economy.This column in the past has focused largely on market barriers and consumer engagement with clean energy, but less on the supply chain portion of companies’ business models. Along with supplying end-products, the clean energy economy will be populated by … [Read more...]
This column has focused largely on market barriers and consumer engagement with clean energy, but less on the supply chain portion of companies’ business models. Along with supplying end-products, the clean energy economy will be populated by many companies who are purely in the business of supplying the materials used in clean technologies. It is important for U.S. competitiveness and industry to ensure that these new companies are … [Read more...]
Imagine a kerosene lamp that continued to shine after the fuel was spent, or an electric stove that could remain hot during a power outage.Materials scientists at Harvard have demonstrated an equivalent feat in clean energy generation with a solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) that converts hydrogen into electricity but can also store electrochemical energy like a battery. This fuel cell can continue to produce power for a short time after its fuel has … [Read more...]
Lithium, an important element in the cleantech revolution, isn’t at critical supply risk, unlike several rare earth elements – dysprosium, europium, terbium and others.But looking beyond 2015 that could begin to shift, the U.S. Department of Energy believes. And all things considered, the Obama administration would like to have plenty of the material home grown, feeding what it hopes will be a burgeoning electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid … [Read more...]
Honda announced that it has begun reusing the rare earth metals extracted from its old car batteries in an effort to recycle and keep down costs.The carmaker said it had begun extracting the metals from the spent nickel-metal hydride batteries earlier this year. Honda saidit planned to reuse the extracted metal in new batteries and for the construction of other car parts.In a further energy saving measure, the company said there were even … [Read more...]
An essential mineral ingredient used in a variety of electronics from cell phones to smart bombs could be a death knell for a pristine part of a wild New Mexico desert grassland coveted by environmentalists—and considered sacred to Native Americans.That ingredient—rare earth elements—is at the heart of a recent battle to protect one of the crown jewels of the southwest, the Otero Mesa, a unique desert environment that sits atop one of the largest … [Read more...]
In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I talk about the significance of China’s dominance of rare earth element production, and the conversion of pyrolysis oil into fuel.The questions answered this week are:1. Can you discuss the uses of ‘rare earth’ elements in the production of renewable energies (i.e., wind and solar)? Furthermore, can you comment on the supply of rare earth elements? I recently watched this video from Real Clear … [Read more...]
Last week a company called Planetary Resources, Inc. announced its intention to develop the means of exploiting minerals from near-earth asteroids on a for-profit basis. This news got some attention for its novelty, particularly at a time when the concerns of most companies are distinctly earthbound. It also attracted sneers from some in the financial press, though the author of a particularly scathing analysis in the … [Read more...]
Wind power is being squeezed on two fronts. Natural gas prices remain low, limiting the financial incentive to install wind capacity. Meanwhile, the Chinese government continues limit the supply of rare earth elements (REE), and the magnets required for wind turbines use sizable quantities of two of them, neodymium and dysprosium. Any interruption in supply, accompanied with price shocks, could debilitate the wind industry, whose struggle to … [Read more...]
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