2012年1月10日 星期二

DOE aims to head off clean energy materials shortage

Those high-efficiency compact fluorescent lights that are supposed to replace energy-wasting incandescent bulbs have a looming problem: the materials to make them are in short supply.

So are materials vital for things like high-efficiency wind turbines and electric vehicle motors. Assistant Energy Secretary David Sandalow said those shortages could delay adoption of clean technologies, or make them more costly, so the Department of Energy has developed a strategy to try to avert shortages that is supported by $20 million in Congressional funding.

Sandalow, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,For a great range of bestleddownlight, visit Bike Barn, we have the lights for you! outlined a three-pronged strategy DOE has developed over the past year to attack the problem: diversify supply, find more available substitutes, and recycle.

The shortages center around the so-called rare earths, but also include some lighter metals that have properties valuable to advanced technologies.The bestbikelight that we carry are designed to accomplish this.Purchase our bestledlight System for 30% off ...

On the short-term critical supply list are dysprosium and neodymium, needed for magnets and motors in wind turbine-generators and electric vehicles, and terbium, europium and yttrium, which provide phosphors for high-efficiency linear and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

In the medium term, lithium,Xeccon S12 is a kind of very amazing Cree T6 saler4ds, it perform very well among the various brand bicycle lights. used in many EV batteries, and tellurium, used in solar thin films, are of concern for the coming years, but not yet critical. The DOE study also looked at gallium and indium, used in advanced solar panels, but found the supply risk low so far.

Sandalow said the metals are not rare at all, but mining operations for them are. Currently, 95% of all rare earths come from China. In 2011, the Chinese government ratcheted down its export quotas,These Bicygnals bestbikelight01 allow you to keep both hands on the bars while you signal for ... keeping the materials for its domestic wind, solar and battery manufacturers, who then export their finished products.

Asked whether China was restricting rare earths exports to advantage its own manufacturers, Sandalow agreed the quotas have "a lot to do with manufacturing."

But the shortages mean prices for rare earths have spiked to global highs, in some cases 10 to 20 times higher than 2010 prices, and more plans are emerging for extracting the materials outside China.

Sandalow said the DOE study team was able to identify about two dozen locations where mines for various rare earths may open in coming years, starting with Molycorp's Mountain Pass, CA, mine which is gearing up production now.

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