Since the development of clean energy technologies, including lithium, rare earth, including 29 who suddenly became unknown element in short supply of resources. They are called "energy key element", is the manufacture of thin film solar panels, high efficiency wind turbines, advanced electric car motors, high capacity batteries and other hardware, the core material of clean energy. So how many of these elements will determine the future of clean energy. As rarely before large-scale use, people's reserves and distribution of these elements do not understand. It has been predicted that the shortage of supply of lithium, there was some panic.glue gun With the gradual proven reserves of lithium, panic gradually subsided. However, other 28 kinds of elements?
December 2006, energy analyst William Tell in a paper published online, "Li trouble." His view has led to those who wish to set off by the lithium battery-powered electric cars clean energy revolution, people's concern.
Gentile suggested that the world is not enough to support a mass of lithium to switch to electric cars. In addition, a small number of lithium-exploitation of resources can be distributed in only a handful of countries. glue stick "If the world wants petrol driven into a lithium battery-driven," he wrote, "America will become the new Middle East. Bolivia will replace Saudi Arabia as the center of the world's energy. The United States will once again rely on foreign imports of key strategic minerals, and China has rich reserves of lithium resources to achieve a degree of self-sufficiency. "
Tail is not the most reliable source of information. In early 2006, he published another paper, "the nuclear destruction of the World Trade Center." Among them, he argued, when the September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, the two buried 260 feet underground in the building of nuclear reactors were deliberately meltdown. In any case, "Peak Lithium" is a story of people can not focus. Tesla Motors and General Motors have recently launched their own electric car, two cars driven by the lithium battery. July 2008, the British "Guardian" concluded: "On the topic of oil supply has not yet subsided, the focus has shifted to the use of lithium on the electric vehicle. However, the dispute is the number of lithium reserves in the end."
January 2010, I attended in Las Vegas at the second annual meeting of lithium and the market supply. During the meeting, I met a geologist R · Keith Evans. He spent 40 years studying the global lithium reserves. Tell the article prompted him to leave retirement. "Nonsense," Tell him that the article comments. Take the elevator to the casino from the conference hall on the way, Evans told me that Ter wrote tit for tat to stimulate his paper, "ample reserves of lithium," re-estimate the global supply. This is not the first time lithium panic, Evans said, as early as 1975, the U.S. Geological Survey in an emergency meeting on the world is about to face a shortage of lithium. Lithium was mainly used for nuclear fusion reactors. That triggered a panic on the Western world supply of lithium the first serious estimate. 1975 production was about 10.65 million tons of lithium. In the following years, geologists are finding more of lithium ore. By 2010, Evans estimates that the world has proven reserves of 28.4 million tons of lithium, or lithium carbonate is 150 million tons of lithium production and marketing --- the most common form of --- the same year, the global market for lithium needs only 10 million tons. Development of electric vehicles in 10 years to make this demand can double, even so, Evans said, there are still used up lithium.
When I met Evans, the other a potential shortage of resources became headline. Rare earth metal is widely used in hybrid cars, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies. China's rare earth production accounted for 95% of the world, suddenly announced to reduce the rare earth export, resource conservation reserves. Last September, China suspended the export of rare earth in Japan. U.S. Department of Energy officials immediately availability of rare earth elements of the U.S. Congress a report.
After that, for clean energy technologies of the key elements of the supply problems caused by more and more attention. This year in February, the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society's expert committee warned that the weakness of mineral resources in the United States not only stay in the earth.