Shift to green energy sources could mean crunch in supply of scarce metals
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 16:00
in Physics & Chemistry
A large-scale shift from coal-fired electric power plants and gasoline-fueled cars to wind turbines and electric vehicles could increase demand for two already-scarce metals available almost exclusively in China by 600-2,600 percent over the next 25 years, a new study has concluded. Published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, it points out that production of the two metals has been increasing by only a few percentage points per year.