14 May 2010
The UN yesterday issued a stark warning that the adoption of low carbon technologies such as solar panels, electric cars and energy efficient lights could stall unless the recycling rates for "speciality metals" used by the electronics industry drastically increases.
Metals such as lithium, neodymium and gallium all play crucial roles in the development of many clean technologies. But according to a new preliminary report from the UN's International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, recycling rates for these metals currently stand at around one per cent.
It warns that currently recycling policies are failing to stop huge quantities of valuable metals being lost each year when the electronic equipment that also makes use of "speciality metals" is disposed of.
The report, Metals Recycling Rates, argues that unless recycling rates for rare earth metals are significantly increased they could become " essentially unavailable for use in modern technology".
The scarcity of metals such as lithium and gallium is already impacting a number of clean tech sectors by driving up component prices for manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and fuel cells.
The report, the final version of which is due to be released later this year, also argues that improving recycling rates for more common metals such as iron, steel, copper, aluminium, lead and tin could save millions or even billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions because recycling metals is between two and ten times more energy efficient than extracting new metal.
Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Program, said that " urgent action" was now required to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of rare metals that will play a "crucial role in the future health, penetration and competitiveness of a modern high-tech, resource-efficient Green Economy".
"Boosting end-of-life recycling rates not only offers a path to enhancing those supplies and keeping metal prices down, but can also generate new kinds of employment while ensuring the longevity of the mines and the stocks found in nature," he added.
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The Danger of Delay
This is something I've feared increasingly in recent years. Although a few nations are beginning to adopt elements of well-developed alternative energy policies, those governments with agendas driven predominantly by entrenched capital interests have been excessively sluggish in moving toward sustainability. As a result of biases toward existing revenue streams, they are waiting until what they have convinced themselves is the last possibly moment. This will perhaps be far too late, as they will tend to listen hardest to those advisors who favor the latest action. It seems to me that humanity and the planet cannot wait for market forces to drive events toward a sustainable future, and the legalization of bribery and the codification of contributions as free speech as has recently accelerated in America can only serve the entrenched interests that stand in the way of progress. Although no freedom-loving majority should favor the authoritarian totalitarianism of the government in China, that government at least has a far reaching and forward thinking energy policy. We've looked and hoped for something like that in America since Jimmie Carter warned of the pressing need over three decades ago. Perhaps needed changes are just on the horizon, but ExxonMobil's tens of billions of dollars in profit are - now more than ever - free to buy our leadership. This is where campaign finance reform meets sustainable energy, and where corporations ("fictitious persons" in American law) can't be allowed to claim the rights of human beings. Until access to positions of government leadership depends solely upon a contest of ideas and achievements instead of a contest of cold cash, I can't be wholly optimistic about rapid change. If you have interest in seeing more on the dangerous phenomenon of buying political power: http://tinyurl.com/ybhy4yr However, on the demand side, I actually do feel relatively optimistic about the future potential for a higher the rate of adoption of "all electric" transportation in America. I think we're on the edge of a paradigm shift similar to the reversal in popular opinion on fur coats. If you're wondering why I feel this way when we have such a deep love of gas guzzling horsepower, have a look here: http://tinyurl.com/ydqta8g http://tinyurl.com/ych3qa8 My heartfelt thanks go to BusinessGreen.com for providing just the sort of public venue for information exchange that's needed to grow popular movements that support bold action. Craig Shields, Editor, 2GreenEnergy.com
Posted by Craig Shields, 16 May 2010