A new report by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) shows that rare earth minerals are not widely used in solar energy and battery storage technologies. And despite their name, they aren’t actually that rare at all.
“Their criticality is mainly related to the current virtual monopoly of China for extraction and processing,” the agency said, noting that the country accounted for 86% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals in 2017.
The extraction of rare earths has a significant toxicological impact on the environment, depending on the nature of the reserves. Ademe said the presence of thorium and uranium in deposits can mean that rare earths create a type of radioactive pollution that is different from other types of waste. However, the agency ultimately concluded that the renewable energy sector actually barely uses such materials.
Besides, remember that you’re comparing localized pollution with globalized pollution:
Cumulative CO2 emissions related to materials for [future, 100% decarbonized] electricity infrastructure may be substantial (4–29 Gt CO2eq in 1.5°C scenarios) but consume only a minor share of global carbon budgets (1%–9% of a 320 Gt CO2eq 1.5°C 66% avoidance budget).
There have to be people who upload on these subjects and aren’t related to Dennis Prager
Yeah and they all say similar to this:
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/11/28/are-rare-earths-used-in-solar-panels/
Besides, remember that you’re comparing localized pollution with globalized pollution:
https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(23)00001-6
Even in a worst-case scenario, polluting one area to save the planet is a no-brainer tradeoff.