• New $120 Million Department Of Energy Center Will Tackle Rare Earths Shortage
    8 replies, posted
[quote]The U.S. Department of Energy is fighting back against China’s stranglehold on global rare earth mineral supplies--or at least throwing money at the problem--by awarding $120 million to Ames Laboratory to set up a new Energy Innovation Hub aimed at shoring up American energy security. Officially titled the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), the DOE lab will roll the resources of more than a dozen national labs, universities, and industry partners into one place in an effort to make rare earths less rare. Rare earths are a collection of 17 elements that are valued for their unique properties. They are used in the production of everything from computer hard drives and smartphones to wind turbines, batteries, and precision weapons systems. They are found in computer displays and light bulbs and communications infrastructure. We use them to refine oil and build cars. In other words, we need refined rare earth minerals and China owns 95% of the global market for them--and isn’t always willing to share. Ramping up domestic supplies could take more than a decade. The CMI has the un-enviable job now of figuring out a solution to this problem. How? CMI is taking a three-pronged approach. First, it will try to diversify the supply by bring new sources online. Second, CMI will support research into developing substitutes for rare earths, something that to date has shown marginal promise (particularly in Japan, the world’s largest importer of rare earths and on-again-off-again geopolitical thorn in China’s side). And finally, improve and encourage reusing and recycling of existing rare earths that are often thrown out with the consumer products they are packed inside. Hopefully between these three efforts something will click. China has already rattled the rare earths saber on a couple of occasions, reminding its global customers that it alone can shut off the spigot to large segments of their manufacturing economies. It has yet to decisively shut off rare earth exports completely, but that could theoretically change at any time.[/quote] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/new-120-million-department-energy-center-will-tackle-rare-earths-shortage[/url]
The moon!
There are no "Shortages". It's just cheaper to get it from China. The USA has a huge amount of them, it was just cheaper to import them than to mine them.
[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;39199408]There are no "Shortages". It's just cheaper to get it from China. The USA has a huge amount of them, it was just cheaper to import them than to mine them.[/QUOTE] Hurra for outsourcing
omg black ops 2 is coming true. the military should start recruiting the best of the best youtube commentators while they can.
If you want to, it's argued that we could produce those rare earth metals by nuclear fusion. It just requires a shitton of energy.
[QUOTE=TheDestroyerOfall;39201010]If you want to, it's argued that we could produce those rare earth metals by nuclear fusion. It just requires a shitton of energy.[/QUOTE] You'd have to dump a lot of energy into this, and the resulting amounts would be so miniscule, that you'd probably pay a few million to billion dollars per kg.
[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;39199408]There are no "Shortages". It's just cheaper to get it from China. The USA has a huge amount of them, it was just cheaper to import them than to mine them.[/QUOTE] Apparently, because Thorium is a byproduct of rare earth mining, the EPA makes it very difficult to mine them in the US
[QUOTE=Raidyr;39199549]omg black ops 2 is coming true. the military should start recruiting the best of the best youtube commentators while they can.[/QUOTE] please let pewdiepie in
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