New Scientist: Why sustainable power is unsustainable (use of rare metals like indium and platinum)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16550-why-sustainable-power-is-unsustainable.html

Why sustainable power is unsustainable

13:02 06 February 2009 by Colin Barras

Renewable energy needs to become a lot more renewable – a theme that emerged at the Financial Times Energy Conference in London this week.

Although scientists are agreed that we must cut carbon emissions from transport and electricity generation to prevent the globe's climate becoming hotter, and more unpredictable, the most advanced "renewable" technologies are too often based upon non-renewable resources, attendees heard.

Supratik Guha of IBM told the conference that sales of silicon solar cells are booming, with 2008 being the first year that the silicon wafers for solar cells outstripped those used for microelectronic devices.

But although silicon is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust after oxygen, it makes relatively inefficient cells that struggle to compete with electricity generated from fossil fuels. And the most advanced solar-cell technologies rely on much rarer materials than silicon.

…

[glowing]

1. Back to basics.. figure out how plants do it.. take the simplest form

algae.. study the shit out of it.. and figure out how to replicate chlorplast.

[drm604]

2. Yes.

Organisms in a tank, creating fuel from air water and sunlight.

[kestrel91316]

5. No need to reinvent the wheel - just USE chloroplasts.

Algae >>>>> biofuels.

[iamjoy]

7. Can You Imagine The Outcry

Can you imagine the reaction of some uneducated Conswervatives if we did that? They'd use it as part of a stump speech that the Liberals wanted millions to study algae. I can almost hear John McCain attempting to be funny by making some comment about swimming pools.

Sigh.

[drm604]

3. What about solar thermal?

You can use large mirrors to use sunlight to boil a fluid and spin generators.

Also, do wind turbines require any rare materials?

[kestrel91316]

4. Wind power doesn't require rare metals. Heck, the pioneers used it.

Farms 100 yrs ago got what little electricity they needed from wind power IIRC.

[drm604]

6. Yes, but that's different from the needs of today.

I can't see where anything rare is needed for the mass generation and storage of electricity via wind turbines, but I'm not an expert so I could be missing something.

[htuttle]

10. Nothing can fulfill the needs of today but fossil fuels

Obviously, the needs of tomorrow are going to have to be far different, no matter the energy sources used.

Energy efficiency has been near the bottom of the list of engineering design priorities for a long time, with even cosmetic concerns taking precedence. That's going to have to be one of the first things to change.

[msongs]

8. hey then we will have "free the algae" terrorist groups as a bonus :-) nt

[bhikkhu]

9. That's a stupid article

There's no shortage of power sustainable power sources that don't use rare elements.

It is rather that we need to adapt to a shrinking economy, a shrinking population, and a less intensive energy use pattern.

[Fledermaus]

11. Gosh, the article is a little thin on facts for such a broad claim.

Considering how divers and wide ranging renewable energy is, not to mention efficiency gains and conservation.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. Carbon nanotubes are another option... from NS can you

believe:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16547-carbon-catalyst-could-herald-cutprice-fuel-cells.html


"They are even better than platinum, long regarded as the best catalyst," says Dai. The team's device produces four times as much electric current as it would using platinum. And, while platinum nanoparticles can lose their effectiveness when they cluster together or become tainted by carbon monoxide, the nanotubes are immune to these degradations.