Mineral Future


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  • #102062 Reply
    Shibboleth

      Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Humans are curious creatures but have made it their business to fiddle with anything and everything, usually with catastrophic consequences. Add to that a sense of discontentment, stupidity and irresponsibility, you have an animal that can inflict untold damage.

      EVs are no answer – they are part of the problem. You still need to extract FF to make plastics and to mine rare minerals for those vehicles. No FF = No modernity. I don’t know the reserves of oil are presently, but have seen good studies suggesting at the rate of current extraction and consumption, we have 25-30 years of oil left. But let’s say a century – that’s just two generations away, Michael – and then?

      Is it really a good idea to disturb the deep ocean for compounds that could possibly treat cancer when we desperately need to reduce the global population back to the planet’s natural carrying capacity of around 1 billion?

      #102064 Reply
      michael norton

        Shibboleth, thankyou, I don’t think plucking a few corals from the oceans to see if they hold medical secrets is a dangerous idea.
        I think it was Jim Lovelock who once said that the Earth can only truly accommodate 500,000,000 people at any tone time.
        I think we are heading for eight billion.
        Politicians never talk about reducing human numbers but force people to buy EV and force them to eat poor quality foods, that will be right, then.
        If we get the politicians we deserve, you end up with Ed Milliband, They are like young children, incapable of joining any dots but wanting what they want instantly, without any care for anybody else.
        It seems that in Europe the wheels are coming off the electric vehicle market, many plants shutting down.
        https://www.politico.eu/article/volkswagen-eyes-closure-three-german-plants-says-works-council/#:~:text=Volkswagen%20intends%20to%20close%20at,be%20closed%20or%20relocated%20abroad.

        #102076 Reply
        Clark

          The wise old owl sat on the oak,
          The more he heard the less he spoke.
          The less he spoke the more he heard,
          Wasn’t he a wise old bird?

          #102077 Reply
          Clark

            Michael, you contradict yourself repeatedly. Presumably you can’t see this yourself or you’d stop. Your thinking is obviously confused. I really don’t like saying things like this, but someone has to tell you. Your time would be better spent learning something (in detail from others who have studied it, rather than superficial, disjointed soundbite claims from populist ‘news’ websites) than posting here.

            I strongly recommend Bad Science by Ben Goldacre; it teaches how to think clearly, and how to tell true claims from false ones. It’s also a really good laugh, especially the bits about politicians 😀

            #102081 Reply
            michael norton

              Clark, I doubt I have ever been rude to you.

              Over the last few weeks I have been gaining a little insight into corals, I have found this very interesting.
              You may recall that many nations are expecting to strip metals from the seas, this in order to make batteries for battery cars. Some countries are coming to understand, this may not be a good idea.
              The Darwin Mounds
              The Darwin Mounds is located approximately 160 km north-west of Cape Wrath, Scotland, at the north end of the Rockall Trough. The site consists of a large number of coral-topped ‘sand volcanoes’ composed of sand overlying mud. The individual mounds are up to 75 m wide and 5 m high and are morphologically unique in U.K. waters. The mounds themselves are unusual geological features that are thought to have been formed by fluid expulsion from the seabed.
              https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/darwin-mounds-mpa/#:~:text=The%20Darwin%20Mounds%20is%20located,composed%20of%20sand%20overlying%20mud.

              #102083 Reply
              Shibboleth

                The wise old owl has been quiet for some time, no doubt getting wiser by the day. Hope you’re ok.

                #102089 Reply
                glenn_nl

                  Yes indeed, hope you’re ok Clark – it’s been a while.

                  I see you’re still the saint of lost causes – and if there ever was one, it’s trying to get MN to widen his viewpoint by as much as an angstrom. If a viewpoint isn’t fit for a Mail / Express opinion leader, MN isn’t interested in it.

                  #102088 Reply
                  michael norton

                    This could be better news
                    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wlj8l8kr7o
                    Norway will no longer let its sea bed be mined for minerals.

                    #102185 Reply
                    michael norton

                      Quote BBC
                      “the crisis facing Orano in Niger represents a significant practical challenge for French energy supply.

                      With 18 nuclear plants, totalling 56 reactors, which generate almost 65% of its electricity, France has been ahead of the game in containing carbon emissions from the power sector.

                      But the country’s own limited production of uranium ended more than 20 years ago.

                      So, over the past decade or so, it has imported almost 90,000 tonnes – a fifth of which has come from Niger. Only Kazakhstan – which accounts for 45% of global output – was a more important source of supply.”
                      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czjd70mzge2o
                      I understand some Uranium for Europe comes from Russia.

                      The U.k. might end up supplying almost a quarter of electricity made using Uranium, yet the U.K. does not mine Uranium.
                      If part of the mix for the world is to be Nuclear Power, getting hold of the Uranium, might prove increasingly difficult?

                      #102212 Reply
                      Clark

                        Michael:

                        “Clark, I doubt I have ever been rude to you.”

                        Michael, you haven’t been rude in the sense of swearing, insulting or name calling; in those senses you have been an unusually polite contributor. However, ignoring other commenters’ points and not reading the information they link to is also rude; you seem to assume that your own knowledge is superior, and that others’ points are therefore irrelevant. You have also accused others of having been brainwashed, thereby again assuming your own superiority; if they are susceptible to being brainwashed, how would you know that you haven’t been?

                        I am disappointed that you found my criticism rude. One of the things about “political correctness” is that telling someone that they’ve got something wrong is now often construed as abusive.

                        #102213 Reply
                        Clark

                          Shibboleth and glenn_nl, hello and Best wishes to you both. And to you Michael.

                          Shibboleth, I didn’t mean to imply that I’m a Wise Old Owl; rather, I was trying to hint to Michael that he might learn more were he to post less and listen more.

                          Glenn_nl, I’m healthy enough, but despondent. A year of protesting for the Palestinians, and little to show for it. I’m giving up hope for humanity. I’m now suspecting that the sooner some crash or catastrophe comes, the less suffering overall will be caused, because the political-economic system seems to be digging us deeper and deeper.

                          #102220 Reply
                          Shibboleth

                            I should have added modest too. The implication was mine – and I do wish you well. I know exactly how you feel, Clark. And I suspect the calamity may not be too far away after all. There’s a lovely documentary on iPlayer about Ken Smith – the Hermit of Treig. There were a few like Ken in my youth – older men who were self-appointed custodians of mountain bothies, self-sufficient with fishing and snaring rabbits and small deer – their modest hut ‘fee’ kept them going in whisky no doubt. And I was fortunate to meet one of the evacuees from St Kilda – a young girl of 13 at the time. We spoke on several occasions and she regaled me with stories on the island as a small girl and then in Ardnamurchan on a Croft.

                            Without exception, they were all fine, educated, content people with an appreciation and love of mother nature our current generation have mostly, sadly lost.

                            Worth a watch – as is Nae Paseran that I posted on another thread.

                            https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0011hp3

                            #102285 Reply
                            michael norton

                              Conflict mining.
                              Quote BBC
                              “The authorities in France and Belgium will now look at whether there is enough evidence to take the legal action further.

                              In a statement, external, the lawyers for the DR Congo talked about Apple’s supply chain being contaminated with
                              “blood minerals”.

                              They allege that the tin, tantalum and tungsten is taken from conflict areas and then
                              “laundered through international supply chains”.

                              “These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation.”
                              https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8g540wz3jo

                              I suspect it will not just be minerals for lap tops or smart phones, it will also be minerals for electric vehicles.

                              #102350 Reply
                              michael norton

                                Demand for electric vehicles has softened in other regions, such as the U.S.A. and Europe, creating challenges for many carmakers.
                                https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36edjp1l9ko
                                Tesla now second to BYD.

                                I really think the answer for battery cars, is small vehicles.
                                To have a smallish battery, with a small internal combustion engine.
                                A basic hybrid.
                                This seems the better solution

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