Our modern economy depends upon metals far more precious
and rare than steel or gold. They are used in tiny amounts
and operate our electronics. THE ELEMENTS OF POWER:
GADGETS, GUNS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN THE
RARE METAL AGE looks behind the scenes of mining,
refining, buying, supplying, manufacturing and recycling. I
find the topic hugely interesting as it shapes our present
and fast-approaching future.
Can metals replace guns? Yes. Author David S. Abraham
saw this personally, as a foreign researcher in Japan in
2010 as China skirmished with Japan over the East China
Sea. When China cut off its export trade of rare earth
metals, Japan capitulated. Abraham says that during his
research he visited a dozen countries and spoke to hundreds
of involved traders or business leaders. But compared to
familiar base metals such as iron, aluminium and copper,
the forty-nine rare earths and metals being used are
cloaked in secretive processes. They are present in tiny
amounts in gadgets protected by patent law; they are
central to an advanced, green economy; they have military
applications; and people don't talk about them very often.
Verifiable facts were hard for him to come by and
statistics were obscured. Trades occur in backroom deals
and there is also a black market.
What is in an iPhone? Indium creates the touchscreen.
Europium and terbium provide green and blue, tantalum
regulates power, lithium makes the battery. Cerium is used
to make the touchglass smooth to the molecular level.
Learning to process and use these metals is a feat as
amazing as making the phone. Electronics using silicon had
been getting smaller and more complex, but Apple, with
Steve Jobs at the fore, was the first to depend so
completely on using rare metals. The commercial success
created whole new industries and offshoots, such as
touchscreen apps. These are the outcomes of work by
generations of mining engineers, material scientists and
metallurgists.
MRI scanners use dysprosium, yttrium is in military radar,
tungsten strengthens oil exploration drill bits among other
items. At no point in human history, says Abrahams, have we
used more metals in more combinations. What happens when we
run out of them? War in Zaire thirty years ago choked the
world's supply of cobalt, and manufacturers turned to other
metals. China is now the world's largest producer of
refined rare metals, partly because the ores are found in
China, but this country has lax environmental standards and
worker health and safety standards. They produce metals
cheaply to export; over half of these exports go to Japan.
Our gadgets are made cheaply in Japan, China and other
lands because cheap labour, environmental despoliation and
pollution are externalised costs. China has capitalised on
its near monopoly in order to draw in foreign companies,
like Apple, and provide jobs. Co-operation is good, of
course.
Abrahams also examines what has happened to trade globally
in metals, and how the US stockpiled vital materials such
as tungsten and chrome prior to WWII, persuading other
nations not to trade these with Germany and Japan. Global
trade today means the commodity markets. Like any products
of value, this rare metal supply also has a dark side;
that's before we look at the polluting effects of
production and the mountain of electronic waste. He
advocates clear labelling of products, telling people how
to recycle and recyclers what is in them; regulation could
insist on manufacturers taking back phones for recycling
instead of letting them to go landfill.
Abrahams interviews miners, scientists, engineers, market
traders and plenty of other people to bring us not just
facts but a human dimension to this human-produced
resource. I already had some knowledge of rare earths and
metals, but the book is so well written, straightforward,
involving and engaging, that any interested reader could
become an armchair expert on THE ELEMENTS OF POWER:
GADGETS, GUNS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN THE
RARE METAL AGE.
Our future hinges on a set of elements that few of us have
even heard of. In this surprising and revealing book, David
S. Abraham unveils what rare metals are and why our
electronic gadgets, the most powerful armies, and indeed the
fate of our planet depend on them. These metals have become
the building blocks of modern society; their properties are
now essential for nearly all our electronic, military, and
“green” technologies. But their growing use is not without
environmental, economic, and geopolitical
consequences.
Abraham traces these elements’ hidden
paths from mines to our living rooms, from the remote hills
of China to the frozen Gulf of Finland, providing vivid
accounts of those who produce, trade, and rely on rare
metals. He argues that these materials are increasingly
playing a significant role in global affairs, conferring
strength to countries and companies that can ensure
sustainable supplies.
Just as oil, iron, and bronze
revolutionized previous eras, so too will these metals. The
challenges this book reveals, and the plans it proposes,
make it essential reading for our rare metal age.
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