The world is trying to switch from electricity produced by burning fossil fuels to cleaner wind and solar power, but some people have worried that there aren't enough rare earth minerals to make the green electricity switch
FILE - Refined tellurium is displayed at the Rio Tinto Kennecott refinery, May 11, 2022, in Magna, Utah. The world has enough rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy to produce electricity and limit global warming, according to a new study that counters concerns about the supply of such minerals.
A team of scientists looked at the materials — many not often mined heavily in the past — and 20 different power sources. They calculated supplies and pollution from mining if green power surged to meet global goals to cut heat-trapping carbon emissions from fossil fuel. Much of the global concern about raw materials for decarbonization has to do with batteries and transportation, especially electric cars that rely on lithium for batteries. This study doesn’t look at that.
“There are enough materials in reserves. The analysis is robust and this study debunks those concerns,” said Daniel Ibarra, an environment professor at Brown University, who wasn’t part of the study but looks at lithium shortages. But he said production capacity has to grow for some “key metals" and one issue is how fast can it grow.
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