Michael Kennedy wrote:
"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...
A few weeks ago, there was a professor talking on a UK radio show,
about the eco-credentials of the windmills that are springing up all
over the UK in an effort to satisfy the goals for renewable power,
that have been foisted on us by Brussels. He enthused like an
evangelical preacher about the brilliant efficiency of these
machines which, he said, was due in no small part to the use of
neodymium magnets in the generators. I understand that high power
neodymium magnets are also used in the motors for electric eco-cars.
Fair enough all round. However, in last Sunday's newspaper
supplement, I read a rather disturbing story about this material.
Apparently, almost all 'rare earth' metals are mined and processed
in China. Since the boom in wind turbines and electric cars started,
the demand for neodymium has gone sky high. The only problem is that
extracting it from the ground and other metals that it co-exists
with, involves the use of very concentrated acids which are pumped
into the ground, as well as being used in the refinement process.
There is also radioactivity involved somewhere in the process. Once
the neodymium has been extracted and processed, the highly acidic
and radioactive 'tailings' are dumped in a huge and highly toxic
lake that is now over 10 feet deep. Local people are getting sick
and dying at an alarming rate, and birth defects are common. The
water supply and crops are being poisoned, and the whole affair is
being talked of in terms of an "ecological disaster". So here we have
another bit of western eco- think of dubious
practicality in terms of the amount of power that can actually be
realistically produced this way, that's having a seriously negative
ecological effect on the other side of the world. But I suppose all
the eco-warriors and euro pen-pushers that support this
'non-polluting' power generation technology, would rather that we
didn't know about the wider implications ...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/mosl...ous-scale.html

Arfa

Whats that old saying.. Theres no such thing as a free lunch..I think
this applies to enery too.. Theres no such thing as (poloution) free
energy.
I don't know what the answer is to the energy problmes we face, but
wind power isn't the answer. Solar isn't so promising either.

**That depends on where you live. Here in Australia, an area the size of
Victoria (3% of our land area) could be dedicated to PV cells. This would be
anough (at present consumption and cell efficiency) to supply the entire
planet's electricity requirements. There are areas of Australia that receive
a considerable amount of yearly Sunshine. Of course, this is a bit of a
distraction, as there are other, far superior methods of achieving base-load
power. Again, here in Australia, we have access to enough geo-thermal energy
to satisfy the entire planet's demands (for base-load power) for the next
several thousand years. Sadly, our coal reserves are so massive and so cheap
to obtain, that none of the above is of any consequence.

Back to Arfa's point: China has recently announced that it is dramatically
curtailing the export of rare Earth materials. It is (wisely) retaining the
stuff for internal use only.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au