Own the Key Elements Needed for the Future of Green Energy from Luciteria Science!
The future is here, and the picture the best available science paints for us is grim: since 1990, the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere have increased by 35-45%. This means more erratic weather, crop uncertainty, and disasters like the recent winter storms that paralyzed Texas and pounded the Pacific Northwest—and that’s only here in the US! Abroad, the pernicious effects are amplified even more as droughts, natural disasters, and aberrant weather patterns take hold, ravaging nations and reshaping the face of our planet at a pace not seen since the end of the Jurassic Era.
Ultimately, green energy will most likely end up being a balancing act between greener energies’ generation methods like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power, and current large-scale generation modalities like nuclear, natural gas, and coal-based energy. The existing challenges to green energy are huge. Mining causes pollution and no one wants a strip mine in their backyard anyway, no matter how crucial or valuable the elements being mined are. Wind and solar energy only work when you have reliable access to the wind and unobscured sunlight. Storing power for later use requires good grid batteries, whose science is in its infancy and which we simply don’t have access to on the scale required to completely go green, even for simple home or personal vehicle use.
We at Luciteria Science have identified these six household elements as the key to the green revolution. As science works to create safer, cleaner, more sustainable energy sources, these green energy elements are going to be on the frontlines of the coming waves of future energy technologies innovation as core components of power plants that develop alternative energies, next-generation electrical vehicles, and hybrids and the batteries needed to electrify cars, houses, and storage for the electricity grid.
Cobalt
This critical element is used in the lithium-ion batteries integral to the power systems of electric vehicles like Tesla. As more auto manufacturers pivot to emphasize on hybrid and purely electric models, where will all this cobalt to power them come from? 60% of the global supply is currently mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This means the world is in desperate need of a steady supply without the current and projected geopolitical risks of dealing in Congolese cobalt. Supply deficits are already here and will only get worse as the worldwide lust for this element increases.
Manganese
Manganese Dioxide (EMD) is an essential component in the makeup of modern alkaline and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Manganese slashes the manufacturing cost of lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles. Since batteries are a major cost, manganese is critical for electric vehicle (EV) production. The manganese dioxide market was valued at USD 1.25 billion in 2018, and it is expected to grow extensively in the next decade.
Vanadium
Vanadium is vital to the upcoming field of energy storage and particularly stationary energy storage. Stationary energy storage will need to be permanent to allow energy grids to store electricity beyond generation and will be essential for the more efficient next generation of power grids. Vanadium is required for this type of storage to be effective, and its usage is expected to balloon by a 36% rate over the next decade.
Carbon
Graphite (powdered carbon) is a key component of batteries used in electric vehicles. By 2033, experts anticipate a 20x increase in demand.
Copper
Copper has been a key driver of every industrial revolution since the 1500s and nothing is changing here. Copper has unmatched thermal and electrical conductivity and is safer than alternatives, making it for all practical purposes the perfect conductive metal. Renewable energy requires up to 15x more copper per power plant than a conventional power plant. An electric car requires up to 10x more copper than an internal combustion engine. Copper demand will surge in the next decade and if production keeps up is an open question. Because of this, it seems pretty safe to bet on rising prices for copper.
Nickel
Not the coin which is 75% copper and 25% nickel metal, but the pure element itself; nickel is crucial for the production of electric vehicles and the batteries inside them. Just ask Elon Musk; he cannot find enough of the metal and continues to look for a safe, steady supply.. Nickel mostly comes from Indonesia and the Philippines. The biggest concern with nickel are twofold: not only is there a global shortage, but the mining of nickel has huge environmental costs, requiring astronomical use of water as well as the employment of dangerous chemicals like sulphuric acid and ammonia. Even though they use the buzzword “green energy,” few people ever really stop to think about how truly green it is!
Luciteria Science Is Your Source for Elements Needed for the Future of Green Energy!
Whether you want to educate and inspire others to think toward a greener future, round out your elements collection, or just keep some of these elements close just in case, Luciteria Science is your source for the elements which will be the key players in the clean energy revolution. These elements are essential for reducing air pollutants such as carbon dioxide and other carbon emissions; next-generation alternative energy solutions; and clean transportation and long-lasting fuel cells which will hopefully help power us into a new age that is healthier for human beings and all the inhabitants of the planet. To learn more about these elements, check out the frequently asked questions below!
Frequently Asked Questions About Green Energy Elements from Luciteria Science
Luciteria Science offers you the information you need about the green energy elements you want!
Question: What are nonrenewable resources?
Answer: A nonrenewable resource is any natural resource that cannot be harvested, replenished, or recycled quickly or effectively. Most nonrenewable resources are gathered from the earth’s crust, but there are others. Notable examples of this are coral reefs, redwood forests, fossil fuels, and rare and endangered animal and plant species. The vast majority of metal and critical mineral elements fall under the category of nonrenewable resources, like indium, gallium, and iridium, just to name a few. Iridium is a platinum group metal along with ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, and of course platinum, and its price has increased 150% as science targets it as a possible key catalyst in hydrogen fuel cells. Another example includes the rare earth elements: cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium and yttrium. These elements appear in low concentrations in the ground and as they become ever more popular as potential solutions to the problems of green energy, they are likely to become even more scarce and expensive to acquire. As these resources are depleted, the search for alternatives becomes ever more imperative.
Question: Can hydrogen be used as renewable energy?
Answer: Research on efficient hydrogen production is one of the next-generation energy sources which are being researched, including harvesting hydrogen as a byproduct of hydropower generation and desalination. The problem with hydrogen fuel cell technology currently appears to be their stability, as well as creating an effective hydrogen storage matrix and extraction methodology. However, if another, more efficient method of extraction and energy storage could be found, it could revolutionize the world’s energy supply and conceivably change the nature of energy consumption. The platinum group metals mentioned previously are at the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell research and technology development, and demand is growing exponentially as science starts taking a longer look at these elements for their green energy potential.
Question: Is renewable energy bad for the environment?
Answer: Over time, pivoting away from nonrenewable energy resources to renewable energy technologies like geothermal electricity, wind power, and more efficient solar photovoltaic cell methods may help reduce the need for environmental remediation from the impact on the environment of natural gas and other fossil fuel extraction, refinement, transmission, and use. However, the challenges still ahead of us in terms of making this leap are immense and the existing barriers are significant.
Obvious problems include sourcing and mining the necessary elements, many of which are rare and difficult to find and obtain. Many of the richest known deposits of these elements are in geopolitically unstable countries, driving up both the difficulty and risk associated with accessing them, which in turn raises the cost. Elements like copper and nickel are already hovering at near-record prices, and the more in demand they become, the more this cycle will perpetuate itself.
Some of the more esoteric issues include problems with the reliability of grid storage and preventing energy loss from battery leaching. Currently, there is no recycling plan or available facilities for solar panels and wind turbines, or the elements they contain, leading to increased landfill usage. It seems likely that even if we can manage a complete pivot away from fossil fuels within the next generation or two, nuclear energy will have to be in the mix for long-duration power generation until we sort out the resolutions to these issues.
As we find and perfect more renewable energy resources, there is a very good chance we will also find ways to generate more energy, more efficiently, using the side effects of fossil fuel-based energy while removing them from the ambient environment. This would foster more sustainable development and usage of limited natural resources, reduce the social impact of pollution and allow more renewable resources to replenish more quickly. However, that time still appears a long way off unless we make significant strides in storage and exotic element recycling technology, as well as the industrial-level, cost-effective mass creation of stable, reliable rare earth elements in a laboratory setting necessary for renewable energy to become feasible for widespread use on the global level. Off-planet mining among the asteroid belt and possibly even on the moon and Mars may also have to be factored into this in the future, but the technology for such a massive off-world effort currently appears even further away than the development of reliable hydrogen fuel cells and long-term green energy storage batteries.
Question: With the demand for rare earth metals on track to explode in support of new energy technologies, how can the world safely transition to sustainable energy?
Answer: With nearly nine billion people on the planet already and more on the way, the quest to reduce carbon emissions and the overall carbon footprint of humanity through efficient energy has become more crucial than ever. Elements of renewable energy production include hydroelectric power stations, kinetic energy, nuclear power, offshore wind and solar energy, geothermal power generation, and other technologies. By embracing these technologies as part of both public and private energy policy, governments and industry can assist the world’s energy transition away from fossil fuels and reduce the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emission while providing safe, energy-efficient heating and lighting for hundreds or thousands of millions of people around the globe.
Question: Where will the materials for our clean energy future come from?
Answer: We already have them! Elements like copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, carbon, vanadium, and manganese are already here on the planet. Synthetic plastics which are developed from plants and are stronger and lighter than conventionally sourced petroleum-based plastics are currently being evaluated by the physical sciences, engineering, and mathematicians for their potential applications in wind farm technology. Lighter, more efficient wind turbines which require less wind energy to produce electricity could be one of the primary power sources of the latter half of the twenty-first century. The problem with actually using these materials is twofold. First, we need to convince people that renewable resources development will create jobs without sacrificing our current standard of living. Second, we need to convince the United Nations and its member nations of the benefits of pursuing next-generation technologies and materials. The more people we have working on the problem, the more likely it is that we can conserve nonrenewable resources and develop safer, cleaner, cheaper energy for everyone!