{"id":335453,"date":"2024-07-03T19:31:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=335453"},"modified":"2024-07-03T19:31:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:31:20","slug":"mining-the-planet-for-renewable-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=335453","title":{"rendered":"Mining the planet for \u201crenewable\u201d energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Driessen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This election year, several critical issues dominate voter concerns. Illegal immigration across unsecured borders by migrants, criminals, sex traffickers, and terrorists. Anti-police policies reduced prosecution of criminals and rising crime. Unprecedented prices for food, clothing, housing, and other necessities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parental roles in education and sex changes for children. Threats to our republic and democracy from unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who use their powers to persecute, prosecute, silence, and even imprison opponents and control our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also crucial control over energy<\/strong> \u2013 the lifeblood of our civilization, jobs, health, and prosperity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will America shut down coal, gas, and nuclear electricity generation before it has sufficient reliable replacements? Will we have electricity when we need it, or only when it\u2019s available<\/a>,  especially after we\u2019re forced to convert gasoline cars and gas stoves, furnaces, and water heaters to electric models?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will families pay<\/em> for that electricity and everything we eat, drink, build, and use? Where will we get plastics, paints, pharmaceuticals, and thousands of other products made from oil and gas they want to lock in the ground? What will happen to our jobs, health, living standards \u2013 and personal choices about where we live, what we eat, what car we can drive and how far, whether we can fly places for vacation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re told a great energy and economic transformation is underway \u2013 and is essential to prevent a \u201cclimate crisis.\u201d In reality, the crisis exists in computer models, headlines, and politicized science but not in actual temperature and weather records<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, there is no energy transformation. In 2023, wind and solar power<\/a> generated 2.7% of the world\u2019s primary energy; 81.5% came from fossil fuels. Between 1965 and 2023, North America and Europe cut their fossil fuel consumption almost in half<\/em>, but over the same period, the rest of the world consumed seven times more<\/em> than those two regions reduced their use. Emissions went up even more because China, India and other developing countries require minimal pollution controls on power plants and vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, a transition to an all-electric economy with no fossil fuels means millions of acres<\/a> of America\u2019s wild, scenic, and agricultural lands would be covered with wind turbines, solar panels, transmission lines, and warehouses filled with batteries that can spontaneously erupt<\/a> in flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, we don\u2019t know whether there are enough accessible metal and mineral deposits on Planet Earth<\/em> to extract all the raw materials required to manufacture the turbines, panels, batteries, transmission lines, electric vehicles, transformers, and other equipment the energy transformation would require \u2013 just for the United States, much less for the entire world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know how many billions of tons of rock would have to be mined, processed, and disposed of; how many millions of acres would be impacted; how many millions of tons of toxic air and water pollution would be emitted; what human rights<\/a> would be violated to get those metals and minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most basic and vital metals for the energy transformation is copper. Average worldwide ore concentrations (0.04%) mean miners would have to remove some 40,000,000 tons of overlying rock and extract, crush, and process nearly 25,000,000 tons of ore to get 110,000 tons of copper \u2013 enough for just the first 30,000 megawatts of President Biden\u2019s offshore wind plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worse, mining is essentially banned in the United States \u2013 and the Biden Administration has vetoed world-class mines that could have met US needs for copper (and other metals) for decades to come. And the problem isn\u2019t just President Biden or the Biden Administration. It\u2019s governors like Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, and countless activists and mostly Democrat politicians who support these policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent studies question whether mining companies can even produce enough copper just for the electric vehicles<\/a> people are told they must buy \u2013 much less for wind and solar power<\/a>, to say nothing of a full US (or global) energy transformation<\/a>. Again, that\u2019s just the copper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2022 International Energy Agency report examines the need for essential metals and minerals<\/a> in energy transitions. Onshore<\/em> wind installations, the report says, require nine<\/em> times more materials than combined-cycle gas-generating plants to produce the same amount of electricity. Offshore<\/em> wind installations require fourteen<\/em> times more. (These IEA numbers do not include materials for transmission lines or backup power for windless-sunless periods.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IEA says its projections are \u201chighly dependent\u201d on how quickly and stringently the world actually tries to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions in power generation and all energy uses, on which wind, solar, battery, and other technologies dominate, and on whether countries also try to utilize low-carbon (natural gas) or no-carbon (batteries) equipment in mining, materials processing, manufacturing and transporting wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, vehicles, and other technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the IEA calculates demand for aluminum, copper, cobalt, graphite<\/a>, iron, nickel, lithium, rare earths, concrete, and other \u201cgreen\u201d energy materials is expected to skyrocket by 5, 20, 40, 50 or more times current global requirements <\/em>by 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Agency says numerous \u201cchallenges\u201d to actually acquiring those materials include actually finding producible deposits, plus land use, water scarcity and pollution, air pollution, toxic mining waste management, corruption and bribery, worker and nearby resident health and safety, and child labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting these challenges, the IEA says, will require \u201csystematic approaches,\u201d the \u201cdevelopment of institutions and the rule of law,\u201d \u201cinclusive legal frameworks,\u201d \u201cresponsible\u201d and \u201crobust\u201d pollution and waste management frameworks, \u201csustainable practices,\u201d \u201cinternational coordination,\u201d \u201ccapacity building and knowledge sharing,\u201d greater \u201ctransparency\u201d and, ultimately, \u201cinternational minerals governance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These actions will all help foster \u201csustainable and responsible supply chains that contribute to a low-carbon economy\u201d worldwide, the IEA assures us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But will these wishful terms survive collisions with the real world? Developing nations view coal, oil, and gas as their key to jobs, modernity, and prosperity. China, Russia, and their allies perceive the West\u2019s fixation on climate change and green energy as opportunities to control US and EU supply chains, geo-political options, and military-economic capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest wind energy project in the USA will soon blanket 1,600 square miles<\/em> (1.25 times Delaware) of New Mexico to generate 3,500 MW about 30% of the year. The Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona generates 4,200 MW from 6 square miles,<\/em> almost 24\/7\/365.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Bloomberg research team says the world will need at least $200 trillion<\/a> to stop global warming by 2050. Others estimate $275 trillion<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we head this economy-and-environment-killing craziness off at the pass?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wise decisions at the ballot box are essential, of course. But state and local governments should enact laws requiring that utilities explain how they will generate wind and solar replacement power on windless winter nights before they shut down a single coal, gas, or nuclear power plant \u2013 or get approval for a single wind or solar project. (Those are just a few of the actions they can take.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They should also demand full details on where raw materials will come from, and at what dollar, human rights and environmental costs \u2013 to state and local communities \u2026 and our planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s jobs, health, living standards, and right to choose our homes, cars, and food depend on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This election year, several critical issues dominate voter concerns. Illegal immigration across unsecured borders by migrants, criminals, sex traffickers, and terrorists. Anti-police policies reduced prosecution of criminals and rising crime. Unprecedented prices for food, clothing, housing, and other necessities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":335454,"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":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"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":[691818102,691818263,691818656,691818128,691829525,691819121],"class_list":{"0":"post-335453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-crisis","9":"tag-copper","10":"tag-electricity","11":"tag-energy","12":"tag-products-of-oil-and-gas","13":"tag-wind-and-solar-power","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/00Open-pit-mine-Africa.jpg?fit=2512%2C1670&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1pgx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":294835,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294835","url_meta":{"origin":335453,"position":0},"title":"Sec. 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This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0DHS-Secretary-Mayorkas-ICE-Worksite-Raids.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0DHS-Secretary-Mayorkas-ICE-Worksite-Raids.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0DHS-Secretary-Mayorkas-ICE-Worksite-Raids.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0DHS-Secretary-Mayorkas-ICE-Worksite-Raids.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0DHS-Secretary-Mayorkas-ICE-Worksite-Raids.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":225078,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=225078","url_meta":{"origin":335453,"position":1},"title":"Biden\u2019s Destroying US Economy, By Intention or Not","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Is this all part of some diabolical plan, the \u201cgreat reset,\u201d to end our system of free market capitalism and replace it with some form of big-government socialism?","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-1027.png?fit=800%2C462&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-1027.png?fit=800%2C462&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-1027.png?fit=800%2C462&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-1027.png?fit=800%2C462&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":231655,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=231655","url_meta":{"origin":335453,"position":2},"title":"Claim: Green Terrorists are Planning Major Attacks","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"German news outlet Junge Freiheit claims a leaked police document describes suspicious drone surveillance of critical energy\u00a0infrastructure.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/011kashin-inyt-web-jumbo.webp?fit=1022%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/011kashin-inyt-web-jumbo.webp?fit=1022%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/011kashin-inyt-web-jumbo.webp?fit=1022%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/011kashin-inyt-web-jumbo.webp?fit=1022%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288730,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288730","url_meta":{"origin":335453,"position":3},"title":"Why the Dutch election result spells trouble for Europe\u2019s climate\u00a0efforts","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Netherlands has in recent years emerged as one of the most ambitious EU countries on climate change. 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