These Rare Elements Are Key to Renewable Energy, But What If They Run Out?

Turns out, green technologies might not be so green. Rare earth elements used in these technologies have a big environmental impact, but there are some solutions.

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Renewable technologies like solar panels, electric cars, and wind farms may move us toward a more sustainable future. But the problems caused by one of their key ingredients could jeopardize it all. Luckily, nature has provided us some pretty cool solutions that, if we can take advantage of them, just might save the day.

I’m talking about rare earth elements, or REEs, a group of 17 metallic elements on the periodic table. And not only do green technologies depend on them, but they’re key parts of most electronics: smart phones, computer hard drives, digital cameras, and more—plus things like medical imaging machines, lasers, and aerospace components.

Many of these elements are so useful because they’re easy to magnetise and they hold on to that magnetic-ness even in solid form. Elements like neodymium, terbium, indium, and others are essential to solar panels and wind turbines, and a recent study showed that in order to keep up with demand for these technologies, we’ll need to produce 12 times as much of these REEs by 2050.

#conservation #greentech #planetearth #science #seeker #elements

Read More:

Can Hard Drives Be Recycled? Google Is Trying to Find Out
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/08/recycling-hard-drive-google-seagate-dell-rare-earth-elements-waste/
"A consortium of US researchers, tech companies, hardware manufacturers, and electronic waste recyclers has recently begun exploring exactly how those rare earths can be re-harvested and given a second life."

Podcast: Rare earths’ magic comes at a cost
https://cen.acs.org/business/inorganic-chemicals/Podcast-Rare-earths-magic-comes-at-a-cost/99/web/2021/07
"In the two-part series, show hosts Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago explore the source of rare earths’ “magic,” the costs of acquiring these elements and what scientists are doing to try to find a way to produce them sustainably."

Don’t Panic about Rare Earth Elements
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dont-panic-about-rare-earth-elements/
"Some industries that rely on rare earth elements are going outside the box and looking for ways to bypass mining entirely. After all, such operations in China and elsewhere have significant environmental impacts that can threaten human health in the absence of strict regulation."

Production Intern: Sally Gu
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