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There are multiple questionable assumptions but I'll focus on one early one. "There is a current paradigm to phase out fossil fuels and all associated infrastr

There are multiple questionable assumptions but I'll focus on one early one. "There is a current paradigm to phase out fossil fuels and all associated infrastructure. This will require an unprecedented volume of metals of all kinds. In particular, technology metals. Technology metals are the building materials needed to manufacture much of current state-of-the-art technology. Technology metals could include: Be, B, Sc, V, Ga, Ge, Se, Sr, Y, Zr, In, Te, Cs, Ba, La, Hf, Ta, Os, Tl, Li, Ru, W, Cd, Hg, Sb, Ir, Mo and Mg." This appears to be a random selection of metals, presented without justification. Nothing about transitioning away from fossil energy requires more mercury, osmium, strontium, barium, or thallium. They're not needed in wind turbines, batteries, solar cells, nuclear reactors, electric motors, electrolyzers, power electronics, or fuel cells. Did the author actually have other energy-transition-critical applications in mind or is he just trying to dazzle with quantity?

HWR_14 4y ago
> They're not needed in wind turbines, batteries, solar cells, nuclear reactors, electric motors, electrolyzers, power electronics, or fuel cells Except they are used in the production the semiconductors that control EVs, battery charging, etc. It's also used in the production of batteries. You're supposed to recycle your AA batteries, for instance, because of the mercuric-oxide.
- philipkglass 4y ago
  Except they are used in the production the semiconductors that control EVs, battery charging, etc. What is thallium needed for in semiconductor manufacturing? I tried searching Google Scholar and didn't turn up anything relevant. I've never seen thallium mentioned alongside semiconductor production in chemistry handbooks or chemical engineering encyclopedias either. Global thallium production declined from 15,000 kilograms in 1994 [1] to less than 8,000 kilograms in 2018 [2] even as semiconductor production volumes increased enormously, so I am skeptical that thallium is needed for semiconductor production. Mercury is banned in alkaline batteries in the US since 1996: https://www.epa.gov/mercury/mercury-batteries https://www.epa.gov/mercury/mercury-batteries Panasonic claims that the battery mercury ban is worldwide now (and they should know), but unfortunately does not cite the relevant legislation: https://www.panasonic-batteries.com/en/news/mercury-batteries-why-they-were-popular-and-banned https://www.panasonic-batteries.com/en/news/mercury-batterie... [1] USGS mineral commodity summaries, "thallium", 1996: https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/mineral-pubs/thallium/thallmcs96.pdf https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/... [2] USGS mineral commodity summaries, "thallium", 2018: https://d9-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/mcs-2019-thall.pdf https://d9-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/...

HWR_14 4y ago

> They're not needed in wind turbines, batteries, solar cells, nuclear reactors, electric motors, electrolyzers, power electronics, or fuel cells Except they are used in the production the semiconductors that control EVs, battery charging, etc. It's also used in the production of batteries. You're supposed to recycle your AA batteries, for instance, because of the mercuric-oxide.

philipkglass 4y ago
Except they are used in the production the semiconductors that control EVs, battery charging, etc. What is thallium needed for in semiconductor manufacturing? I tried searching Google Scholar and didn't turn up anything relevant. I've never seen thallium mentioned alongside semiconductor production in chemistry handbooks or chemical engineering encyclopedias either. Global thallium production declined from 15,000 kilograms in 1994 [1] to less than 8,000 kilograms in 2018 [2] even as semiconductor production volumes increased enormously, so I am skeptical that thallium is needed for semiconductor production. Mercury is banned in alkaline batteries in the US since 1996: https://www.epa.gov/mercury/mercury-batteries https://www.epa.gov/mercury/mercury-batteries Panasonic claims that the battery mercury ban is worldwide now (and they should know), but unfortunately does not cite the relevant legislation: https://www.panasonic-batteries.com/en/news/mercury-batteries-why-they-were-popular-and-banned https://www.panasonic-batteries.com/en/news/mercury-batterie... [1] USGS mineral commodity summaries, "thallium", 1996: https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/mineral-pubs/thallium/thallmcs96.pdf https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/... [2] USGS mineral commodity summaries, "thallium", 2018: https://d9-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/mcs-2019-thall.pdf https://d9-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/...