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eBook details
- Title: Critical Minerals and Emerging Technologies: The Federal Government Can Help Ensure That the Nation Has Sufficient and Reliable Supplies of Critical Materials Used Increasingly in Industry and Defense (Critical Minerals) (Report)
- Author : Issues in Science and Technology
- Release Date : January 22, 2010
- Genre: Engineering,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 613 KB
Description
The periodic table is under siege. Or at least that is what one might imagine after hearing some of the cries of alarm that have begun echoing across the United States. We hear that the latest cell phones, electric vehicles, or critical weapons systems might no longer be feasible because some element that most people have never heard of is in short supply or being hoarded by another country. Among the alarms issued in just the first few months of 2010, The New Yorker published an essay on lithium supplies (which may be essential for batteries in electric vehicles) and the potentially critical role of Bolivia as a supplier in the future. The Atlantic published an article on China's activities in Africa to secure--even "lock up"--primary commodities needed by its growing manufacturing sector. Science published a special section in one issue describing new materials for electronics, and the report included commentary on possible scarcities of essential elements that could constrain expansion. Even the U.S. Government Accountability Office weighed in, publishing the findings of its investigation on the availability of rare-earth elements for essential military applications and vulnerability to shortages.