Save the EARTH

[rogruth]

Recently I read that the sun was also getting hotter.
Wouldn't that have an affect on the temoerature of the Earth?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

As I understood it when I was an under-grad, our sun is a middle-aged star. Eventually , like the rest of them in the Universe, it will expand and become a Red Giant, having it fill the space ( literally ) from its present existence to approximately being a diameter that will reach Jupiter's orbit, having consumed Mercury, Venus, The Asteroid Belt, Mars, and Earth; next it will collapse to being a Blue Dwarf.

I hope I got that all right. Surely , my betters here will correct me if I have mis-learned, or mis-recalled, or if the science has changed.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I think it is a white, not blue dwarf, if I recall my Hertzsprung-Russell diagram correctly.

I'm more confident that this is far enough into the future to not be of a serious concern this week.

[HONDO74]

Bloomberg
Record Chinese Coal Burning to Drive Surge in Carbon Emissions
https://news.yahoo.com/coal-set-drive-r ... 00075.html

William Mathis and Javier Blas
Tue, April 20, 2021, 3:48 AM·2 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese coal consumption is poised to hit a record this year, contradicting a view held by many climate change and energy experts that the voracious coal usage in the world’s second-biggest economy had peaked.

A 4% surge in Chinese coal demand, coupled with higher consumption elsewhere in Asia, as well as in the U.S. and Europe, will trigger a large increase in carbon emissions, the International Energy Agency said, days before global leaders plan a virtual gathering to discuss the climate change challenge.

The IEA’s analysis is the latest evidence that the shuttering of the global economy because of the pandemic will only be a temporary limit on the emissions warming the planet.

Carbon dioxide emissions related to the energy sector are set to rise by 1.5 billion metric tons in 2021, the biggest gain since 2010. A major part of that is the increase in Chinese coal demand.

Overall, global energy demand is set to increase by 4.6% this year, with developing economies pushing it above the 2019 level.

“This is a dire warning that the economic recovery from the Covidcrisis is currently anything but sustainable for our climate,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director. “Unless governments around the world move rapidly to start cutting emissions, we are likely to face an even worse situation in 2022.”

Last year saw a remarkable drop in the use of fossil fuels, while solar and wind power continued to gain. This year the IEA expects coal use to rebound, eclipsing the steady rise of green power sources.

Asia will continue to drive the demand for coal. In the U.S. and Europe, coal use will gain, but the forecast remain below levels from two years ago. Global coal demand will rise 4.5%, beyond the level seen before the pandemic.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

....

I'm more confident that this is far enough into the future to not be of a serious concern this week.

No doubt, bro.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

....

I'm more confident that this is far enough into the future to not be of a serious concern this week.

No doubt, bro.

But next month might be different.

[robert.]

thought some Paris deal stopped Asia from burning coal?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

thought some Paris deal stopped Asia from burning coal?

[HONDO74]

Move to net-zero 'inevitably means more mining'
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57234610

The public will need to accept greater mining activity if the world is to meet the challenge of going green.

Resource experts say the current supply of various metals and minerals cannot support a global economy producing net-zero carbon emissions.

Extraction rates have to be raised, the scientists argue, if only in the short term.

Governments around the world are busy setting targets to transform their economies so they no longer contribute warming gases to the atmosphere, or more correctly have a net-zero contribution.

This will mean phasing out the internal combustion engine and dramatically increasing renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar.

The UK, for instance, wants all new cars to go electric from 2030. But to switch Britain's 31.5 million petrol and diesel vehicles over to a battery-electric fleet would take an estimated 207,900 tonnes of cobalt, 264,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 7,200 tonnes of neodymium and dysprosium, and 2,362,500 tonnes of copper.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

..........neodymium and dysprosium...........

The others are easy; these 2 are hard.

[rogruth]

Move to net-zero 'inevitably means more mining.

The UK, for instance, wants all new cars to go electric from 2030. But to switch Britain's 31.5 million petrol and diesel vehicles over to a battery-electric fleet would take an estimated 207,900 tonnes of cobalt, 264,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 7,200 tonnes of neodymium and dysprosium, and 2,362,500 tonnes of copper.

How many tonnes of this stuff is produced in a year?

[HONDO74]

Biden looks abroad for electric vehicle metals, in blow to US miners
Biden officials want to ensure the administration's EV aspirations are not imperiled as domestic mines face roadblocks
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/bid ... -us-miners

U.S. President Joe Biden will rely on ally countries to supply the bulk of the metals needed to build electric vehicles and focus on processing them domestically into battery parts, part of a strategy designed to placate environmentalists, two administration officials with direct knowledge told Reuters.

The plans will be a blow to U.S. miners who had hoped Biden would rely primarily on domestically sourced metals, as his campaign had signaled last autumn, to help fulfill his ambitions for a less carbon-intensive economy.

Rather than focus on permitting more U.S. mines, Biden's team is more focused on creating jobs that process minerals domestically into electric vehicle (EV) battery parts, according to the people.

Biden officials want to ensure the administration's EV aspirations are not imperiled as domestic mines face roadblocks, the sources said, both from environmentalists and even some Democrats.

"It rings hollow when I hear everyone use this as a national defense argument, that we have to build new mines to have a greener economy," said U.S. Representative Betty McCollum, a Democrat who has introduced legislation that would permanently block Antofagasta Plc's proposed Twin Metals copper mine in Minnesota.

Ali Zaidi, deputy White House national climate advisor, said the administration was focused on a strategy that "leverages our domestic resources in a way that's responsible", noting that included recycling in the supply chain.

While U.S. projects from small and large miners alike will feel the impact, the pain from any blocked projects will fall disproportionately on smaller, U.S.-focused companies. Many large miners also have global projects that could benefit from the administration's plan.

CHEVROLET CORVETTE PRODUCTION PARKED THIS WEEK DUE TO PARTS SHORTAGE

"We can no longer push the production of the products we want to places we cannot see and to people we will never meet," said Mckinsey Lyon of Perpetua Resources Corp, which is trying to develop Idaho's Stibnite mine to produce gold and antimony used to make EV battery alloys.
INVESTMENTS

The U.S. government in April became the largest shareholder in mining investment firm TechMet, which controls a Brazilian nickel project, a Rwandan tungsten mine and is a major investor in a Canadian battery recycler.

Washington also funds research into Canadian cobalt projects and rare earths projects in Malawi, among other international investments.

The State Department's Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) is one of the main programs Washington plans to use to help allies discover and develop lithium, cobalt and other EV metals. To be sure, Washington is not ignoring domestic mining.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded grants to help old coal mines find ways to produce rare earths. U.S. officials have also funded MP Materials Corp, which owns the country's only rare earths mine, though it relies on Chinese processors.

But the bulk of Biden's approach is designed to sidestep battles with environmentalists and save capital for other fights, according to one administration source. During a visit to a Ford Motor Co plant in Michigan on May 18, Biden called for government grants for new EV battery facilities. He mentioned Australia's lithium reserves during the tour, but not large U.S. supplies of the key battery mineral.

Republicans say Biden's EV plans will be impossible to achieve without more U.S. mines.

"These 'not-in-my-backyard' extremists have made clear they want to lock up our land and prevent the mining of minerals," U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, told a House Natural Resources Committee forum held the same day as Biden's Michigan visit.
PLACATING LABOR

Biden's approach comes with risks, including angering political supporters within the labor movement who want the administration to have an openness to resource extraction and the attendant jobs.

"Let's let Americans extract these minerals from the earth," said Aaron Butler of United Association Local 469 union, which does work for Rio Tinto Ltd's proposed Resolution copper mine project in Arizona and endorsed Biden in the elections. "These are good-paying jobs." Many of the skills that labor unions would use to build mines, including concrete and electrical work, can also be used to build EV metal processing plants.

The National Mining Association, an industry trade group, has been lobbying the White House and Congress to support domestic projects, arguing that the coronavirus pandemic showed the importance of localizing supply chains.

Biden's White House is now quietly working to enlist labor support as it tries to build a case that its green policies are creating jobs, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections that could determine whether the strategy wins congressional backing, according to two organized labor sources familiar with the campaign Biden officials have reached out to unions across the country asking for specific job-boosting projects the administration can take credit for, the labor sources said.

[up148]

Interesting approach for sure. I wonder what kind of reserves the US has in these metals & minerals and how nasty is it to extract from the earth. Every action has a reaction, so seems we need to know more to make the decision. But, if these M&M's are in limited supply around the world, then hanging on to our reserves for now might not be bad. But, I know nothing about mining these M&M's.

[v8vega]

Hondo did you type all that or copy and paste it. Do you sight type or proper type?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Interesting approach for sure. I wonder what kind of reserves the US has in these metals & minerals and how nasty is it to extract from the earth. Every action has a reaction, so seems we need to know more to make the decision. But, if these M&M's are in limited supply around the world, then hanging on to our reserves for now might not be bad. But, I know nothing about mining these M&M's.

..........neodymium and dysprosium...........very scarce in the US as are all rare earths.

Big mine in the US for these has failed at least twice now and the SPAC fund that was selling the resurrection of this mine as an investment has pretty much imploded.