"We found man-made lakes full of radioactive sludge and heard claims of polluted water and contaminated soil, which, in the past, have been linked to clusters of cancer and birth defects."
"Machines are constantly on the hunt for rare earths called neodymium and dysprosium that go into making powerful magnets for a variety of modern technology, from electric vehicles to computer hard drives."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-66cdf862-5e96-4e6e-90b8-a407b597c8d9
"As the demand for pocket gadgets, electric vehicles, solar panels, MRI machines and jet engines surges, there is one worrying statistic to contend with - mining just one tonne of rare earth minerals creates some 2,000 tonnes of toxic waste."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-66cdf862-5e96-4e6e-90b8-a407b597c8d9
@SusiArnott 16 of the 17 rare earths are used in smart phones, and about 3 are used to help the phone vibrate.
We have made no real attempts to calculate the true and total costs of all this mining to our environment. These 'tailing' dumps are truly horrible and before long will collapse and seep into water table. So, how do the benefits from a set of solar panels compare to pollution that will impact our environment for thousands of years? And we call this stuff sustainable, green, clean?
@SusiArnott
Maybe it would help if proponents stopped calling rare earth mining, etc., a "sustainability initiative". And it would be good too to stop promoting the myth of the 'Green' 'Transition' because it's not remotely green and there's no transition. Tech and science are always promising these magical solutions that always make things worse. As always throughout history, we have an Energy Addition: more coal, oil, gas, solar, wind. Worst of all worlds.
Gerry McGovern
Dr Susi Arnott