{"id":283048,"date":"2023-10-12T20:20:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T18:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=283048"},"modified":"2023-10-12T20:20:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T18:20:14","slug":"green-energys-demand-for-rare-earths-driving-wholesale-environmental-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=283048","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Green\u2019 Energy\u2019s Demand For Rare Earths Driving Wholesale Environmental\u00a0Destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Increased global data and monitoring are needed to fully understand the ecological and health impacts of this extractive industry.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From STOP THESE THINGS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles all critically depend upon a raft of minerals known as \u2018rare earths\u2019, as well as mountains of copper and cobalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the exponential increase in demand for minerals comes an exponential growth in the mountains of toxic filth left behind during mining and processing those minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minerals in question have become \u2018rare\u2019, of late, as a consequence of the Western world\u2019s insatiable appetite for \u2018feelgood\u2019 electricity generated by sunshine and breezes, occasionally stored in giant lithium batteries, as well as the thirst among the truly virtuous for the ultimate exhibition of moral posturing: the all-electric powered vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mining concentrated ore bodies ordinarily involves local environmental harm, depending upon what\u2019s being mined and where. Hence, strict environmental controls and cleanup orders once the orebody is spent and miners go home \u2013 at least in Western democracies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the rush to provide the ingredients for the purported wind and solar (and all-EV) transition means more mines, often operated in Third World countries where the environment rarely rates a mention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Phelan takes a look at some work aimed at identifying the scope of the environmental destruction being caused by the West\u2019s obsession with subsidised wind, solar and electric vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devastating risks of transitioning to \u2018green\u2019 energy<\/strong>
Daily Mail
Matthew Phelan
22 September 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tens of millions of people \u2014 more than live in the entire state of Florida \u2014 are now exposed to toxic water runoff from metal mining, a new study has found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report lays bare the devastating impacts that can follow a reckless transition to \u2018green\u2019 energy, compounding the ecological damage wrought by over 150 years of drilling and mining for fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers found that 23 million people worldwide, as well as 5.72 million in livestock, over 16 million acres of irrigated farmland and over 297,800 miles worth of rivers have been contaminated by mining\u2019s toxic byproducts seeping into the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This metal mining includes many so-called \u2018rare earth elements\u2019 essential to the manufacture of high-tech electronics, solar cells, wind turbines and all the batteries needed to store sustainable \u2018green\u2019 energy (and power electric cars and iPhones).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the new study focuses on environmental impacts, global metals mining has recently faced shocking lawsuits against major tech firms, including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Tesla, over child slavery in the Congo, where 70 percent of the industry\u2019s cobalt is sourced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Rapid growth in global metal mining is crucial if the world is to make the transition to green energy,\u2019 noted Chris Thomas, a zoologist at the University of Lincoln whose specialty is in spatial ecology and threats to the global water supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas led the analysis and modelling work for the new study, which was published today in Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas and his colleagues have developed a new database, supported by on-the-ground testing, which now maps the hundreds of square miles\u2019 worth of rivers and floodplains contaminated by these industrial processes across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The devastation wrought by this contamination, they found, was widespread, affecting approximately 297,800 miles (479,200 km) of river systems total and over 63,000 square-miles (164,000 sq-km) of floodplains worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, North America stood out as the most affected, at 123,280 miles of tainted river systems, and approximately 10.7 million acres of polluted floodplains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the damage was not much better in South America with 50,766 miles of rivers and over 9.5 million acres of floodplain impacted; nor in Asia with about 37,842 river-miles and about 8.3 million acres of floodplain polluted by metal mining waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of potency of local damage, however, the scientists saved their harshest criticisms for \u2018the environmental legacy of historical mining,\u2019 which they said was \u2018most problematic in western Europe,\u2019 where long-abandoned old mines have left lasting environmental damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Much of the estimated global contamination we have mapped is a legacy from the industrial era,\u2019 Thomas said in a press statement. \u2018Rightly, modern mining is being encouraged to prioritize environmental sustainability.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The researchers identified 159,735 abandoned mines, marked in blue above, whose environmental impact due to laxer historic regulations contributed \u2018much of the estimated global contamination,\u2019 according to report co-author and spatial ecology expert Chris Thomas
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The study also modelled the waste from 22,609 active mines, marked in red above, as well as 11,587 mining waste storage facilities and 257 known cases of failed and leaking storage sites (not pictured above): \u2018the most comprehensive compilation of metal mine locations to date\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Inactive mines and their pollution outnumbers the mining waste generated by new mines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The researchers developed a model to predict the spread of contaminants from all known active and inactive metal mines \u2014 plus facilities used to seal off hazardous mining waste \u2014 with a focus on pollution from lead, zinc, copper, and arsenic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These potentially harmful contaminants and industrial byproducts can seep into the local water supply, whether transported downstream where the metals are deposited along river beds and floodplains, or otherwise sinks deep into underground aquifers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Macklin, director of the university\u2019s Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health, who led the international team behind the new research, said he anticipates the new study\u2019s maps and modelling tools will help prevent future reckless mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We expect that this will make it easier to mitigate the environmental effects of historical and present mining,\u2019 Macklin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Our new method for predicting the dispersal of mine waste in river systems provides governments, environmental regulators, the mining industry and local communities with a tool that, for the first time, will enable them to assess the offsite and downstream impacts of mining on ecosystem and human health.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All told, the researchers identified 159,735 abandoned mines and 22,609 active mines \u2014 as well as 11,587 mining waste storage facilities and 257 known cases of failed and leaking storage sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team described the new database in their report as \u2018the most comprehensive compilation of metal mine locations to date.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns over just how bad the ecological impact of metal mining for sustainable technology might be is complicated by the diverse variety of resources involved, which can lead to \u2018apples to oranges\u2019 comparisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, green energy technologies like wind turbines and electric cars often do require many more mined minerals than the present fossil fuels infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One electric car, for example, requires six times more metallic and mineral materials than a combustion engine car, MIT\u2019s university team reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a wind power plant requires nine times more of these mined compounds than a traditional gas-fired plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition, according to the IEA, will require new mining under 30 million tons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Odell, a visiting scientist at MIT\u2019s Environmental Solutions Initiative who specializes in clean energy and mining, cautions however that these environmental impacts often need to be assessed on a more detailed, case by case basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mining of any two different metals requires different techniques with different impacts \u2014 as can two separate deposits of the same metal if located in significantly different conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I think if someone were to tell you one or the other is better in terms of direct impacts pound for pound,\u2019 Odell said, \u2018you should ask a lot of questions about how they got to that answer.\u2019
Daily Mail<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Increased global data and monitoring are needed to fully understand the ecological and health impacts of this extractive industry. From STOP THESE THINGS Solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles all critically depend upon a raft of minerals known as \u2018rare earths\u2019, as well as mountains of copper and cobalt. With the exponential increase in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":283058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Increased global data and monitoring are needed to fully understand the ecological and health impacts of this extractive industry.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691823571,691819487,691819094,691822871],"class_list":{"0":"post-283048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-environmental-destruction-2","9":"tag-rare-earths","10":"tag-renewable-green-energy","11":"tag-toxic-water","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-322.png?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1bDi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":380977,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=380977","url_meta":{"origin":283048,"position":0},"title":"Who Knew? 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