earth audit: turf wars of the future

It's not just established technologies - like those relying on oil - that are facing a resource crunch as supplies decline. As reported in New Scientist [subscription required] we are mining a whole raft of minerals and ores at such a rate that even new technologies will soon be affected.

Gallium and iridium are two minerals that some analysts say may only last ten more years before they run out, but are being used in a new-generation solar cell that promises to be twice as efficient as current technologies. Gallium is also used for making LCDs, which raises serious questions about the long-term future of flat screens for computers and televisions; and for LEDs, which are hailed as the next generation of lighting that will replace compact flurorescent bulbs. And even the CFL bulbs are threatened by the supply of terbium, which could be used up by 2012.

Of course, nobody knows for sure when any mined resource will run out, but without a global storekeeper watching over earth's underground supplies, we are in danger of banking on the wrong technology to address current environmental or energy challenges. What happens if we all switch to LED lighting to reduce energy consumption, and find there's only a five-year supply of the raw materials needed to make them?

We can keep hopping from one technology to the next - or make some drastic changes to the way we consume resources, and completely revolutionise the concept of recycling. As raw materials become more scarce and costly, companies are starting to look at new ways to extract material from what has historically been treated as waste. Mine dumps are one such source. Another, believe it or not, is roadside dust. In countries like the US, where catalytic converters are in widespread use, platinum is lost through vehicle exhausts, and ends up literally everywhere that vehicles go. Platinum is also in short supply (with an otherwise promising future in fuel cells), and geologist Hazel Prichard wonders if there's a way to collect it from road-sweeping machines for recycling.

Is Hazel Prichard the bag lady of the future, wandering the streets in search of platinum? "Hey, buddy, step away from the trash can. This is my turf." The revolution is nigh.

Comments

[jimmiesohie]

It's already happening in South Africa. Not the organised recycling at home, which is way behind many other countries, but the re-mining of mine dumps and picking cities clean of anything and everything that can be sold for recycling. The street people are doing what the rest of us should have started long ago - too zealously, as seen by the disappearing copper wires, water pipes and aluminium railings. The recycling market is providing income for the poor, and these scavengers have staked out their turf in the city streets, each with their regular collection points. Incidentally, this is one reason the city doesn't use drain and manhole covers made of recycled materials: they would get stolen, melted down and remanufactured in an endless cycle.