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[–] NoodlyAppendage 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

This was published in 2010 and is discussing a very specific type of photovoltaic cell. There are other types that have been discovered since this paper was published that don't use rare earth metals, such as perovskite solar cells.

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[–] Voat_a_Goat_Mamma [S] ago 

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing that. I still thought we needed rare earth metals.

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[–] NoodlyAppendage 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

We do still need those minerals. They have many other uses in technology.

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[–] edthomson92 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Which is why we need a mix of clean energy sources, not just one

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[–] 3938371? 1 point 3 points (+4|-1) ago  (edited ago)

Other than perhaps short term interruptions resulting from market forces or geopolitical events, it is not antici- pated that there will be any long term material constraints that would prevent the development of a significant amount of energy from photoelectric cells. Reserve estimates are not static; although a particular metal might be considered rare and scarce, if a profit can be made from its recovery, then there will likely be no long-term shortage. Technological advance- ments driven by the desire to produce energy at a lower cost will likely result in increases in efficiency requiring smaller amounts of these metals per unit of energy produced, substitu- tion with other materials, and other advancements in science.

Given that this is /v/collapse, I'd say you fucked up in trying to use this particular paper.

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[–] Voat_a_Goat_Mamma [S] 3 points -3 points (+0|-3) ago 

My bad....still the earth is finite. Just because they say this doesn't mean we have those means locked in yet! It is still tantamount, to "We'll figure out eventually." Same thing everyone says about everything. We have no answers still.

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[–] 3938163? 0 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago 

I've said this for a long time, that people don't recognise the environmental impact of solar.

Just because it isn't spewing out smoke doesn't mean there's no environmental impact.

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[–] 6double5321 1 point 1 point (+2|-1) ago 

Aren't the largest collections of rare earth metals sitting under china?

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[–] Vhaine ago 

China has some large deposits, but more interestingly they bought most of the people making the stuff. There was some discussions a few years back as to why America was letting them buy the ones in America...you know, since rare earth magnets are pretty much used in every advanced weapon system we have.

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[–] NoodlyAppendage 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Not really. Rare earth metals are distrubuted pretty evenly across the planet. China just has the advantage of not caring about the environmental impacts of mining those metals.

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[–] SaneGoatiSwear 0 points 7 points (+7|-0) ago  (edited ago)