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Tellurium, like e.g. gold, is rare on Earth but not a rare earth element. CdTe panels aren't terrible for the environment either. They have a faster energy payb
by philipkglass 8y ago
Tellurium, like e.g. gold, is rare on Earth but not a rare earth element. CdTe panels aren't terrible for the environment either. They have a faster energy payback time than crystalline silicon. The cadmium doesn't leak out of the panel any more than arsenic leaks out of cell phone power amplifiers. But CdTe modules have lost ground to crystalline silicon panels because c-Si has reduced costs faster. There's just one significant producer of CdTe modules today, First Solar.
NiMH batteries do contain mixed rare earth elements (mostly lanthanum), but the particular elements used are fairly abundant. And of course NiMH batteries look like they can't keep up with lithium ion and will see their niche shrinking further.
- hwillis 8y agoWhoops, you're totally right- got my Chinese metals mixed up. 75% of US tellurium comes from China, and I must have gotten cross-contaminated. > The cadmium doesn't leak out of the panel any more than arsenic leaks out of cell phone power amplifiers. The actual cells are perfectly safe but the mining and manufacturing process is not. The extremely lax controls in China 20+ years ago aren't representative of the present, but they did do terrible damage and mining cadmium will always cause contamination. > NiMH batteries do contain mixed rare earth elements (mostly lanthanum), but the particular elements used are fairly abundant. Yes! That's what I had been thinking of, besides magnets obviously. Lanthanum is also notable in that it's used to make gasoline, along with cerium.