Quarks to Quasars

Elements for Clean Energy

1. Lithium

Graham Murdoch

Because of its high reactivity and low mass, lithium is used as the charge carrier in the lightest and most energy-dense rechargeable batteries on the market. Ignore talk of “peak lithium.” The element is abundant and environmentally benign.

2. Cobalt

Graham Murdoch

Used in battery electrodes, superalloys for jet turbines, and magnets, cobalt is relatively abundant. The problem is, 49 percent of the world’s annual supply is mined in the Congo, which is consistently plagued by conflict.

3. Tellurium

Graham Murdoch

Layers of the rare semimetal tellurium allow cadmium-tellurium solar panels to absorb more light with far less material than conventional silicon panels. Unfortunately, tellurium is produced only in tiny quantities, as a by-product of copper refining.

4.Neodymium

Graham Murdoch

Neodymium and many of the 16 other rare-earth elements have unusual electron configurations that produce strange but useful magnetic and optical properties. Rare earths have long been ignored and are produced in extremely small quantities.

5. Rhenium

Graham Murdoch

Perhaps no metal is more resistant to corrosion at high temperatures than rhenium, which, like cobalt, is used in superalloys for highly efficient jet engines. But hardly any metal is rarer than rhenium, which is five times as scarce as gold.

6. Platinum

Graham Murdoch

Platinum is highly resistant to corrosion and an excellent catalyst, essential for air-pollution scrubbers such as catalytic converters. Most of the world’s supply comes from just two countries, Russia and South Africa.

(Source: popsci.com)

422 notes
Posted on Sunday, 11 March
Tagged as: Science   Chemistry   Earth  
Next Post     Previous Post
  1. magnimusiclover reblogged this from expose-the-light
  2. martin-groenkowicz reblogged this from expose-the-light
  3. thatdumbgirl reblogged this from scinerds
  4. mathology reblogged this from expose-the-light
  5. maisur reblogged this from itsasecrettoever
  6. itsasecrettoever reblogged this from astrotastic
  7. teachingadolescents reblogged this from expose-the-light
  8. saltedcarthage reblogged this from selflessdoing
  9. kosmoskruptos reblogged this from expose-the-light
  10. f-mirai7 reblogged this from genkideru
  11. genkideru reblogged this from expose-the-light
  12. shellshape reblogged this from expose-the-light
  13. mgyyyy reblogged this from expose-the-light
  14. adistinguishedvillain reblogged this from expose-the-light
  15. iousherlock reblogged this from scandalin
  16. do-i-seecolor reblogged this from darkirregularsvevo
  17. ilovethemall reblogged this from expose-the-light
  18. scandalin reblogged this from amarantae
  19. lindurk reblogged this from amarantae
  20. amarantae reblogged this from expose-the-light
  21. fartoomean reblogged this from expose-the-light
  22. americandenizen reblogged this from expose-the-light
  23. darkvlok reblogged this from expose-the-light
  24. the-transcendent-man reblogged this from expose-the-light
  25. suburban-ethos reblogged this from selflessdoing
  26. crymeafuckingriverdarling reblogged this from expose-the-light
  27. occupywallsheet reblogged this from expose-the-light
  28. valyvampy reblogged this from expose-the-light
  29. sincerelyscience reblogged this from expose-the-light
  30. nerdychemistem reblogged this from expose-the-light
  31. paint-it-vivid reblogged this from expose-the-light
Theme Urban v3 by Max Davis
Back to top