Our Sustainable Future: A Look at Rare Earth Elements

Posted on Oct 22, 2012 in Sustainable Living & Sustainable Lifestyle by Contributing Writer 0 Comments

The world is expanding, quicker than ever before. The sheer amount of people we have on our planet, mixed in with the demand we have for new technologies could soon spell trouble. Seventeen elements from the periodic table make up a group we call Rare Earth Elements (REEs). Unfortunately these elements are becoming depleted at a rapid pace. You might think that fossil fuels is the main area of concern for our planet, though this infographic will show you that is not the case. The issue we have in front of us, when it comes to these REEs, is just as troubling; if not worse. One of the main worldwide importers of REEs, China, has declared its REEs are nearly depleted.

Rare Earth Elements are Critical to Clean Technologies

These seventeen Rare Earth Elements are used in much of the technology we use everyday, such as, mobile phones, color displays, hard drives and satellite navigation just to name a few. If that isn’t bad enough, clean technologies are also in for a shock. Clean technologies are comprised of alternative technologies to generate energy, moving away from fossil fuels, such as tidal energy, solar power and wind turbines. Without REEs, creating these clean technologies will be somewhat problematic. This detailed infographic from vouchercloud explains the situation: