Chinese state owned China National Nuclear Corporation is claiming that they have developed a means of re-processing heavily irradiated (and up to now useless) spent nuclear fuel.
The implications of this are tremendous: they mean that China can now extend it's uranium reserves from 50 years to a claimed 3000 years.
If this is true, China is effectively the new superpower and will not have the achilles heel of coal dependency.
That gives China with 97% of the world's rare earths production a head start on everyone else on the planet for moving to a post-carbon economy and maintaining (even strengthening) it's grip on global manufacturing.
This is great news since it removes a reason to fight over oil supplies.
The downside is this: it also removes leverage that we in the West have over coal supplies which will become increasingly irrelevant and thus limited leverage over the current production of rare earths. For that reason, this report *may* be simple smoke and mirrors.
If this report turns out to be true then the question for us in the West is this:
Can we duplicate what the Chinese have done in order to extend our own supplies of Uranium?
Showing posts with label Rare Earths. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rare Earths. Show all posts
Monday, 3 January 2011
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
More on Rare Earth Motor Substitutes
You know, it seems that unlike the doomer position (where substitutes can't happen because oil is irreplaceable) substitutes seem to be popping out of the woodwork.
Yet another substitute for rare-earth magnets by a Silicon Valley based company:
http://www.novatorque.com/technology/better-design.php
Novatorque's design uses ferrite magnets and some innovative engineering to produce a motor that functions under similar operating conidtions to neodymium based magnets but without the need for rare earths.What it does is make a motor more efficient by modifying the shape and positioning of the magnets to improve magnetic flux.
Now the interesting point about this is that this technology could *also* be applied to rare earth magnets thus reducing the usage of rare-earth minerals and therefore magnifying the utility of existing reserves.
Yet another substitute for rare-earth magnets by a Silicon Valley based company:
http://www.novatorque.com/technology/better-design.php
Novatorque's design uses ferrite magnets and some innovative engineering to produce a motor that functions under similar operating conidtions to neodymium based magnets but without the need for rare earths.What it does is make a motor more efficient by modifying the shape and positioning of the magnets to improve magnetic flux.
Now the interesting point about this is that this technology could *also* be applied to rare earth magnets thus reducing the usage of rare-earth minerals and therefore magnifying the utility of existing reserves.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Rare Earths: Toshiba to the rescue
Just a very quick post today.
Remember the rare earths fiasco?
Well it seems that not even counting the fact that we have the Chinese by the balls because we have all the coal, the Japanese company Toshiba has already sidestepped dependence on the Chinese rare earth strangehold entirely:
They have developed and are in production of a high magnetic field strengh Samarium-Cobalt magnet - both of whom are in good supply from that highly unstable and dangerous part of the world called Australia, thus completely avoiding dependence on dysprosium which currently is almost all produced in China.
Link is here:
http://www.toshiba-tmat.co.jp/eng/list/ra_smco.htm
Remember the rare earths fiasco?
Well it seems that not even counting the fact that we have the Chinese by the balls because we have all the coal, the Japanese company Toshiba has already sidestepped dependence on the Chinese rare earth strangehold entirely:
They have developed and are in production of a high magnetic field strengh Samarium-Cobalt magnet - both of whom are in good supply from that highly unstable and dangerous part of the world called Australia, thus completely avoiding dependence on dysprosium which currently is almost all produced in China.
Link is here:
http://www.toshiba-tmat.co.jp/eng/list/ra_smco.htm
Friday, 24 September 2010
Yet more on rare earth substitutes
So we have Hitachi chipping away at the need for rare earths with it's improved ferric oxide magnets.
What else could there be coming down the line?
One key fact in the OMG we're so doomed because we ABSOLUTELY-FRICKEN-NEEEEEED rare earths for electric cars and wind turbines is this:
Currently the MAIN driver for demand of rare earths happens to be hard drives and not motors for electric cars or wind turbines.
So is there successful R&D on potential substitutes for hard drive magnets?
Yup. Something similar to the flash drives that are already eating away at hard drive sales. They're made out of graphene. So what you say?
Graphene is CARBON. One of the most abundant materials on Earth. Heck we produce so much of it that there are complaints it's all ending up in the atmosphere....
Some details here:
"MIT TEchnology Review reports that researchers at the National University of Singapore have made computer memory devices using graphene based on the well understood ferroelectric effect. This is the first step toward memory that could be much denser and faster than the magnetic memory used in today's hard drives. The researchers have made hundreds of prototype graphene memory devices, and they work reliably, according to Barbaros Özyilmaz, the physics professor who led the work presented at a recent American Physical Society meeting in Pittsburgh."
What else could there be coming down the line?
One key fact in the OMG we're so doomed because we ABSOLUTELY-FRICKEN-NEEEEEED rare earths for electric cars and wind turbines is this:
Currently the MAIN driver for demand of rare earths happens to be hard drives and not motors for electric cars or wind turbines.
So is there successful R&D on potential substitutes for hard drive magnets?
Yup. Something similar to the flash drives that are already eating away at hard drive sales. They're made out of graphene. So what you say?
Graphene is CARBON. One of the most abundant materials on Earth. Heck we produce so much of it that there are complaints it's all ending up in the atmosphere....
Some details here:
"MIT TEchnology Review reports that researchers at the National University of Singapore have made computer memory devices using graphene based on the well understood ferroelectric effect. This is the first step toward memory that could be much denser and faster than the magnetic memory used in today's hard drives. The researchers have made hundreds of prototype graphene memory devices, and they work reliably, according to Barbaros Özyilmaz, the physics professor who led the work presented at a recent American Physical Society meeting in Pittsburgh."
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Peak Rare Earths and Electric Cars - Doom by shortage?
Some doomers reckon that we are not only going to enter a period where conventional oil peaks but that also coal will peak, potash will peak, lithium will peak etc etc.
The one I'm interested in is electric cars, because I like driving and I don't want to give up my car.
So let's take a look at that.
A prius for example uses 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of neodymium in it's motors, and each battery uses 10 to 15 kg (22-33 lb) of lanthanum and some 10lbs of lithium.
There have been some reports that we are doomed because China is currently the #1 supplier of rare earths and if China shuts off supply we are all doomed.
First all, because it's currently the #1 supplier doesn't mean there's none anywhere else in the world. There are significant resources in Canada and the US (not even considering Russia, Africa and Australia) that are simply just not cost effective to extract at current (ridiculously cheap prices ).
But let's ignore that for a minute and focus purely on the amount of material.
Are there substitutes for neodymium? Yes there are. Cobalt works and is about as abundant as neodymium. Additionally Dysprosium can be used. It's also not widely known but the reason we are currently dependent on neodymium is due to a crash R&D program in the early 80s by Sumitomo of Japan to find a replacement for Cobalt Magnets which at the time were the gold standard for delivering high magnetic field strength (and thus high torque). The major source of Cobalt at the time was Zaire, which was involved in the Cold War (remember that?) and the Soviets at the time took the world's main supply of Cobalt offline, thus leading Sumitomo to invent post-haste an entirely new high magnetic field strength magnet based on different materials. Given that China is attempting a strangehold on the market at the moment, what is the likelihood that there are enterprising companies trying to develop alternatives as we speak? Well as a matter of fact there are:
AC induction motors have been developed that completely eliminate the use of rare earths.
Or you could use software controlled systems such as that developed by Chorus technologies which also eliminates the requirement for rare earths also. Options, options. What to pick? Blueberry ice cream or Chocolate or Vanilla or Mint or… you get the picture.
Is there anything else can be done? Why yes there is.
Currently all electric vehicles have a single speed transmission, leading to the need for very large, very powerful electric motors. Several companies, including Zytek and Zeroshift are working on multi-speed gearboxes, which will greatly reduce the need for such large motors (by up to 10-30% by some estimates) meaning that the amount of rare earths required are reduced signficiantly.
Is there yet anything else?
Unlike oil, which is burned in the form of gasoline and the waste products vented to the atmosphere, worn out electric motors and batteries can be RECYCLED and as much as 90% of the original in place material could be re-used.
What about batteries?
Ongoing R&D in the materials required to produce batteries are prolific and there are several candidates on the drawing board which use significantly less lithium and/or have entirely different chemistries such as zinc/air.
And last but not least, despite their name the rare earth metals chemically are not that rare. Within the crust the most common rare earth metals (lanthanum to neodymium) have a similar crustal abundance to the less common base metals (zinc, copper, nickel and tin) and even the rarer middle and heavy rare earth metals are more common than silver. They are certainly nowhere near as rare as the precious metals, such as gold and the platinum group elements. To a certain extent this is reflected in the price of rare earth metals which generally fall somewhere in between the price of the rarer base metals and silver.
So what it comes down to in the end is this: you can pick your investment options and possibly end up picking the Microsoft of the new energy/new transportation paradigm or you can scoot on over to savinar's site and load yourself up with guns and ammo in anticipation of the impending zombie apocalypse.
My choice? I'm deciding whether to go to Maui or Disneyland for my next vacation.
The one I'm interested in is electric cars, because I like driving and I don't want to give up my car.
So let's take a look at that.
A prius for example uses 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of neodymium in it's motors, and each battery uses 10 to 15 kg (22-33 lb) of lanthanum and some 10lbs of lithium.
There have been some reports that we are doomed because China is currently the #1 supplier of rare earths and if China shuts off supply we are all doomed.
First all, because it's currently the #1 supplier doesn't mean there's none anywhere else in the world. There are significant resources in Canada and the US (not even considering Russia, Africa and Australia) that are simply just not cost effective to extract at current (ridiculously cheap prices ).
But let's ignore that for a minute and focus purely on the amount of material.
Are there substitutes for neodymium? Yes there are. Cobalt works and is about as abundant as neodymium. Additionally Dysprosium can be used. It's also not widely known but the reason we are currently dependent on neodymium is due to a crash R&D program in the early 80s by Sumitomo of Japan to find a replacement for Cobalt Magnets which at the time were the gold standard for delivering high magnetic field strength (and thus high torque). The major source of Cobalt at the time was Zaire, which was involved in the Cold War (remember that?) and the Soviets at the time took the world's main supply of Cobalt offline, thus leading Sumitomo to invent post-haste an entirely new high magnetic field strength magnet based on different materials. Given that China is attempting a strangehold on the market at the moment, what is the likelihood that there are enterprising companies trying to develop alternatives as we speak? Well as a matter of fact there are:
AC induction motors have been developed that completely eliminate the use of rare earths.
Or you could use software controlled systems such as that developed by Chorus technologies which also eliminates the requirement for rare earths also. Options, options. What to pick? Blueberry ice cream or Chocolate or Vanilla or Mint or… you get the picture.
Is there anything else can be done? Why yes there is.
Currently all electric vehicles have a single speed transmission, leading to the need for very large, very powerful electric motors. Several companies, including Zytek and Zeroshift are working on multi-speed gearboxes, which will greatly reduce the need for such large motors (by up to 10-30% by some estimates) meaning that the amount of rare earths required are reduced signficiantly.
Is there yet anything else?
Unlike oil, which is burned in the form of gasoline and the waste products vented to the atmosphere, worn out electric motors and batteries can be RECYCLED and as much as 90% of the original in place material could be re-used.
What about batteries?
Ongoing R&D in the materials required to produce batteries are prolific and there are several candidates on the drawing board which use significantly less lithium and/or have entirely different chemistries such as zinc/air.
And last but not least, despite their name the rare earth metals chemically are not that rare. Within the crust the most common rare earth metals (lanthanum to neodymium) have a similar crustal abundance to the less common base metals (zinc, copper, nickel and tin) and even the rarer middle and heavy rare earth metals are more common than silver. They are certainly nowhere near as rare as the precious metals, such as gold and the platinum group elements. To a certain extent this is reflected in the price of rare earth metals which generally fall somewhere in between the price of the rarer base metals and silver.
So what it comes down to in the end is this: you can pick your investment options and possibly end up picking the Microsoft of the new energy/new transportation paradigm or you can scoot on over to savinar's site and load yourself up with guns and ammo in anticipation of the impending zombie apocalypse.
My choice? I'm deciding whether to go to Maui or Disneyland for my next vacation.
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