Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
...one of those slick videos produced greenwashing fossil fuels, rebranding them as "hydrogen?"
I'm disappointed.
I'd like to ask the fossil fuel industry spokespeople here which has killed more people, radiation from Chernobyl or all the coal being burned to make hydrogen in Germany, and electricity in Germany that the fossil fuel people represent as a "green" hydrogen nirvana.
The fossil fuel industry has long survived by whipping up antinuke fear and ignorance.
How about a picture of the lanthanide mines near Baotou that goes into making all those wind turbines that the fossil fuel industry likes to pretend the Chinese use to make hydrogen, in order to cover up that less than 1% of the dirty hydrogen in China is made by electrolysis?
This isn't a slick video, but a picture from a news source:
The caption:
Health hazard ... pipes coming from a rare-earth smelting plant spew into a tailings dam on the outskirts of Baotou in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region
From the article, in the Guardian: Rare-earth mining in China comes at a heavy cost for local villages
Pollution is poisoning the farms and villages of the region that processes the precious minerals
From the air it looks like a huge lake, fed by many tributaries, but on the ground it turns out to be a murky expanse of water, in which no fish or algae can survive. The shore is coated with a black crust, so thick you can walk on it. Into this huge, 10 sq km tailings pond nearby factories discharge water loaded with chemicals used to process the 17 most sought after minerals in the world, collectively known as rare earths.
The town of Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, is the largest Chinese source of these strategic elements, essential to advanced technology, from smartphones to GPS receivers, but also to wind farms and, above all, electric cars. The minerals are mined at Bayan Obo, 120km farther north, then brought to Baotou for processing.
The concentration of rare earths in the ore is very low, so they must be separated and purified, using hydro-metallurgical techniques and acid baths. China accounts for 97% of global output of these precious substances, with two-thirds produced in Baotou.
The town of Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, is the largest Chinese source of these strategic elements, essential to advanced technology, from smartphones to GPS receivers, but also to wind farms and, above all, electric cars. The minerals are mined at Bayan Obo, 120km farther north, then brought to Baotou for processing.
The concentration of rare earths in the ore is very low, so they must be separated and purified, using hydro-metallurgical techniques and acid baths. China accounts for 97% of global output of these precious substances, with two-thirds produced in Baotou.
Here's another nice picture connected with the big, big, big lie about "green" hydrogen (as marketed) and "green" so called "renewable energy: "
The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust
An excerpt:
...You may not have heard of Baotou, but the mines and factories here help to keep our modern lives ticking. It is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of “rare earth” minerals. These elements can be found in everything from magnets in wind turbines and electric car motors, to the electronic guts of smartphones and flatscreen TVs. In 2009 China produced 95% of the world's supply of these elements, and it's estimated that the Bayan Obo mines just north of Baotou contain 70% of the world's reserves. But, as we would discover, at what cost?...
I graciously decided to add the bold.
One of the interesting things about the fossil fuel industry is how very much it is like the cigarette industry in producing manufacturing doubt and suspicion and efforts at rebranding. It's an old game, driven by selective attention. The fossil fuel industry, besides rebranding itself as "hydrogen," also needs to sell the lie that nuclear energy, and only nuclear energy, needs to be perfect and without risk. The truth is that nuclear energy need not be without risk to be better than everything else, including hydrogen made by steam reformation of coal - the dominant source of hydrogen there - in China.
As for the Ferris Wheel...how about a fossil fuel marketing agent produces a death toll for Children of Chernobyl.
I have a picture of a child of Chernobyl, but not one killed by radiation:
Think the fossil fuel marketing team can claim she's swatting away a neutron?
Maria Sharapova
I mean they're really, really, really good at producing misleading slick videos. Too much of a challenge?
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read