Name – Prateek Kumar Singh

Centre Number - UG026

Candidate Number - 0508
Topic: Sustainability
Question: Has mining of rare earth metals
for green energy cost us?

Introduction
After the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, we saw a
big shift from non-renewable energy to renewable energy
or green energy.
‘Green energy is any type of energy that is generated from
natural resources such as wind and sunlight.’1
‘Rare Earth metals any of a series of metallic elements of
which the oxides are classed as rare earths and which
include the elements of the lanthanide series and
sometimes yttrium and scandium.’2
“Renewable’s make up almost 10% of the world’s
electricity. It is said by 2050 this will become triple.”3
This change has both a positive and a negative effect on
planet earth. Companies say that green energy only has
benefits and we people believe it. These companies do this
for sales but they don’t tell you the real truth that all these
products are being made from rare earth metals. These
rare earth metals are being mined at a very rapid rate that
the demand was up by 25% last year. The age of fossil fuel
is grinding to a halt.
These days, rare-earth metals like graphite, copper, and
lithium are key components in many hi-tech products.
These include not just smartphones and laptops, but
electric vehicles and wind power
plants, as well. Last year ‘60 billion Euros’4 was invested in
electric vehicles.
This is a trusted website because many people have used
it and the reviews are quite good. The information is on to
the mark. There was also the use of Wikipedia but don’t
trust the website fully. People can easily give you wrong
information by making wrong changes.

The greenhouse gases continue to exacerbate climate

change all around the planet.
Specialists say that to manufacture something clean you
have to pollute something else.
It’s impossible to make the earth fully clean without
harming something else.

Causes And Consequences

But why are rare earth metals being mined at such a high
rate?
Rare Earth metals are being mined at such a high rate
because of the high demand for electric vehicles, solar
panels, batteries, and semiconductor chips.
‘There's more than 50 pounds of copper in a typical
U.S.-built automobile: about 40 pounds for electrical and
about 10 pounds for nonelectrical components.’5 and 6 . The
copper.org can’t be that trusted because it’s a new website
and there are no reviews about it. The tesla website can be
trusted because the information is coming from them and
this is an official statement to the government of the USA.

These metals are being mined at such a high rate for the
army equipment. ‘Each F-35 contains more than 900
pounds of rare earth elements, which are crucial to making
it essential for missile guidance systems.’7. This is a
trusted website because it is run by Pentagon. The point is
giving a good cause.

Metals like cobalt come from the Democratic Republic of

Congo and Australia. Copper comes from Chile. Bolivia
with big lithium reserves. Indonesia is the key producer of
tin, nickel, and zirconium.
The biggest player in rare earth metals in China. China
produces 2/3 of rare earth metals e.g., graphite. The
province of Heilongjiang excavators has carried away an
entire mountain of graphite. Graphite in China is mostly
produced from ramshackle factories. Graphite is a very
radio-active metal that contains hydrofluoric acid. In areas
around graphite plants in China, the soil loses fertility and
also dries up.

Indium, antimony, gallium, tungsten, and germanium

plants are plentiful across the nation. Demand for rare
earth metals has gone up by 25% per year. The worst
environmental damage is caused by the illegal disposal of
wastewater containing heavy rare earth metals. This is
leading to high rates of cancer in areas around rare earth
metal plants. A wind turbine consists of an average of ‘20
tons of aluminium and up to 500 tons of steel.’8
Electric cars contain up to 80 kilos of copper, four times
more than most combustion engine vehicles. ‘Last year
330,000 tonnes of copper was refined in Chikikamata in
Chile. Specialists say that 470,000 tonnes of copper will be
mined once underground mining starts.’9 This website
can’t be that trusted because it’s a new website and there
are no reviews about it.
There are signs that demand will outstrip the supply of
copper. Geologists are warning of a copper shortage in
upcoming years. Almost 10% of jobs in Chile depend on
copper extraction from Chikikamata.

Global And National Perspective

Both globally and nationally the issue of over mining is
being fully ignored. Mining in some regions globally like
Chile is leading to water shortages because mining and
processes need a lot of water. Globally mining is being
taken as a business while in countries like China this is a
way of improving the GDP of the country. In countries like
Chile with big copper mines, people are dying of
cardiovascular diseases like lung cancer because of the
bad smoke produced from mining plants.

Conclusion
Yes, green energy has cost us. The Energy transition isn’t
over, there are still many innovations to come. The
solution will be to invest in start-ups with new ideas. For
example, organic solar panels don’t need any silicon; they
are like sheets of paper, very flexible, and can be installed
anywhere. The performance will improve through research
in this sector. So, these electric cars and solar companies
are trying to make a profit.

Personally, my perspective towards electric cars has

changed. I used to think that electric cars are clean but
after researching I realised that electric cars are not that
clean due to the high amount of rare earth metals used in
them.

So, should we carry on like this?

We can of course continue like this but by extracting
metals in a limited way. The global leaders want growth but
the truth is we have taken the wrong turn in technologies
and consumption of resources. The world is under huge
resource pressure. We have to follow the right path for
ourselves and our surroundings. We need to radically
reduce energy and resource consumption.

Bibliography
1. www.twi-global.com. (n.d.). What is Green Energy? (Definition, Types and Examples).
[online] Available at:
https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/what-is-green-energy. [Accessed
23 Mar. 2022].

2. Merriam-webster.com. (2021). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. [online] Available at:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rare%20earth%20element [Accessed 23
Mar. 2022].

3. “- YouTube.” n.d. Www.youtube.com. Accessed February 30, 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqSqNIsC04g.
2022. Google.com. 2022.
4. .“Record €60bn Investment in Electric Cars and Batteries in Europe Secured Last Year.”
2020. Campaigning for Cleaner Transport in Europe | Transport & Environment. May 25,
2020. https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/record-. [Accessed 1 Mar. 2022].

5. Copper Facts: Copper in Transportation.” n.d. Www.copper.org.

https://www.copper.org/education/c-facts/transportation/print-category.html. Accessed on
7th March 2022.
6. “Tesla Conflict Minerals Report.” n.d.
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/about/legal/2018-conflict-minerals-report.pdf.
Accessed on 7th March 2022.
7. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=
8&ved=2ahUKEwjOqPWihM32AhWG2aQKHa27AIYQFnoECAgQAQ&url=https%3A
%2F%2Fcanso.org%2Fpublications%2Fairspace-magazine%2F&usg=AOvVaw24-ThcF1
24UTdjT2NETWO1. Accessed on 3 rd March 2022.
8. “- YouTube.” n.d. Www.youtube.com. Accessed February 30, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqSqNIsC04g.
2022. Google.com. 2022.

9. .“Copper Facts: Copper in Transportation.” n.d. Www.copper.org.

https://www.copper.org/education/c-facts/transportation/print-category.html. Accessed on
7th March 2022.