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As a thought experiment? We will have polluted the Earth from all the mining and haphazard disposal processes that are common where these rare earths are, and w

As a thought experiment? We will have polluted the Earth from all the mining and haphazard disposal processes that are common where these rare earths are, and will have done little to nothing about over all GHG release as policy in places like California have de-incentivized residential solar to prop up the profits of the utilities and most charging will likely be done using carbon based sources from an archaic grid. Believe me when i say this, I worked for VW during diesel-gate and thought the solution was EV being embraced by the largest auto manufacturer: VAG. But the reality it's far more complex than that: we have to enforce as much WFH as possible, in conjunction with realizing we must have a conglomerate of energy sources including fossil fuels, but also see that what we have been doing is entirely unsustainable and not even desirable in terms of large scale transportation and logistics. it doesn't even fit the mould since younger millennials and Gen Z do not want nor can they afford cars; so who is going to buy these things after it's main demographic has been exhausted? I'll save you a click: Conclusion I predict that if all gasoline vehicles were replaced by EVs we would see total C02 produced drop from 3 trillion lbs per year to 810.1 billion lbs per year, a 73.0% decrease. Comparing this result using data from [8] we see a 77.9% decrease predicted. We consider this validation for such a simplistic, high level approximation with the goal of being understandable to people outside of academia. We performed a separate calculation using 24.2 mpg for the fuel economy for gas powered vehicles in the U.S. and calculated the total annual emission to be 3.3 trillion lbs. This value lands in between the previous two methods of calculating total annual gas emissions. The predicted decrease in emissions is compelling but it is still important to expand on these of calculations to include more environmental effects that distinguish the impact of these two types of vehicles. The type of impact is most likely not completely characterized by carbon emissions alone

hwillis 3y ago
> haphazard disposal processes that are common where these rare earths are Which rare earths are those? Because there's only one rare earth in motors and zero in batteries. There are rare earths in most electronics, but not really any more in EVs than in any other car. The rare earth in motors -and not even in all motors- is neodymium, which is the second most common. There are huge deposits worldwide and *the US gets over 85% of its REE domestically.*
- Melting_Harps 3y ago
  > The rare earth in motors -and not even in all motors- is neodymium, which is the second most common. There are huge deposits worldwide and the US gets over 85% of its REE domestically. Has that changed? This was my understanding of the situation: “I think most people outside our industry would be shocked to learn that there are virtually no factories in the US building these magnets at scale,” said Shilpan Amin, GM vice president for global purchasing and supply chain. “Well that’s about to change.” 0: https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/9/22825948/gm-ev-motor-rare-earth-metal-magnet-mp-materials https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/9/22825948/gm-ev-motor-rare...
  - hwillis 3y ago
    Yes, 92% of Nd magnets are made in China. Large amounts of the REE used to make those magnets are imported. The implication that all that mining is just in China is false, and cheap labor is the only reason it isn't all in the US. The US supplied almost ALL of the planets REEs until cheap labor outcompeted it. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Neodymium%20Magnets%20Supply%20Chain%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Neodymium...
    - Melting_Harps 3y ago
      > The US supplied almost ALL of the planets REEs until cheap labor outcompeted it. I fail to see how that is untrue then, if the labour arbitrage holds then nothing is being refined in the US and is then still solely taking place in China were Xi has made it a priority to remediate destroyed soil after decades of dumping waste as Cheaply as possible during its Industrialization, mainly for export make to the West.

hwillis 3y ago

> haphazard disposal processes that are common where these rare earths are Which rare earths are those? Because there's only one rare earth in motors and zero in batteries. There are rare earths in most electronics, but not really any more in EVs than in any other car. The rare earth in motors -and not even in all motors- is neodymium, which is the second most common. There are huge deposits worldwide and *the US gets over 85% of its REE domestically.*

Melting_Harps 3y ago
> The rare earth in motors -and not even in all motors- is neodymium, which is the second most common. There are huge deposits worldwide and the US gets over 85% of its REE domestically. Has that changed? This was my understanding of the situation: “I think most people outside our industry would be shocked to learn that there are virtually no factories in the US building these magnets at scale,” said Shilpan Amin, GM vice president for global purchasing and supply chain. “Well that’s about to change.” 0: https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/9/22825948/gm-ev-motor-rare-earth-metal-magnet-mp-materials https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/9/22825948/gm-ev-motor-rare...
- hwillis 3y ago
  Yes, 92% of Nd magnets are made in China. Large amounts of the REE used to make those magnets are imported. The implication that all that mining is just in China is false, and cheap labor is the only reason it isn't all in the US. The US supplied almost ALL of the planets REEs until cheap labor outcompeted it. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Neodymium%20Magnets%20Supply%20Chain%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Neodymium...
  - Melting_Harps 3y ago
    > The US supplied almost ALL of the planets REEs until cheap labor outcompeted it. I fail to see how that is untrue then, if the labour arbitrage holds then nothing is being refined in the US and is then still solely taking place in China were Xi has made it a priority to remediate destroyed soil after decades of dumping waste as Cheaply as possible during its Industrialization, mainly for export make to the West.