While I am not a specialist in green technology, I could not help but be depressed by an article in the New York Times Tuesday about China’s rare earth minerals and metals.  

The Times and many other papers announced Tuesday that China which “currently accounts for 93 percent of production of so-called rare earth elements” plans to cut its exports of these minerals in order to get manufacturers to open plants in China. Today, China did a bit of backpedaling to reassure the rest of the world that rare earth materials would still be available.

While obscure, these elements and metals are used in a number of green technologies, including magnets for wind turbines and batteries in hybrid cars, and in missile systems.

What especially caught my eye was the Times report that

“some of the minerals crucial to green technologies are extracted in China using methods that inflict serious damage on the local environment. China dominates global rare earth production partly because of its willingness until now to tolerate highly polluting, low-cost mining.

To get at the materials, powerful acid is pumped down bore holes. There it dissolves some of the rare earths, and the slurry is then pumped into leaky artificial ponds with earthen dams, according to mining specialists.”

Western green technology at the cost of extreme pollution in another country. China’s environmental problems, not limited to the mining sector, are well-known. How do environmentalists resolve this moral dilemma? They cannot force China to clean up its act; they cannot repudiate hybrid cars and other green technology. Will environmentalists support development of rare earth extraction elsewhere, like in Australia, California, and Canada? Can green technology engineers find alternatives to rare earth? I will be interested in following how they resolve this predicament.

China-based solar producer Suntech Power announced plans this week to build a manufacturing facility in the United States to serve the growing U.S. market for large-scale utility projects and to take advantage of government incentives.

“We believe in the outstanding long-term prospects of the solar energy market in the United States” Suntech Chairman and CEO Zhengrong Shi said.

The Suntech announcement reflects the value of federal and state incentives for renewable energy. It also counters a favorite argument of climate action opponents on Capitol Hill that shifting the United States to a clean energy future will send U.S. jobs overseas. Suntech, the world’s largest solar energy company in terms of photovoltaic module production, said it could cut transport costs and emissions by building closer to its market. The cost of shipping heavy renewable units, combined with the fact that the U.S. and EU currently constitute the majority of clean tech demand, makes local manufacturing facilities a sensible strategy for long-term growth.

Political considerations were also not lost on the company. Appealing to both green jobs enthusiasts and those who perceive China as taking manufacturing jobs from the U.S, Shi said he is hopeful that “initiating manufacturing in the U.S. will drive further growth of green jobs.”

Suntech America President Roger Efird said as many as 1,000 jobs could be created through Suntech’s U.S. operations over the next few years. The company plans to settle on a location in the next six months.

“We are currently in discussion with the governors of three different states who have been recruiting us to build factories,” Efird has said.

In making the announcement this week, the company specifically identified that its decision would be based on “local manufacturing incentives” and “long-term policy commitments.” …..click here to read more

Secretary began a four-city tour this week to discuss ideas for harnessing the energy potential of offshore areas. He has made broad claims regarding resources offshore such as windpower off the coasts can produce the energy of 3,000 coal-fired plants as he boasts about offshore’s energy potential.

He is likely to face resistance in opening up more areas to development, whether that be for maritime agriculture or for offshore drilling. A new plan, which will likely come out later this year, will address both issues. This roadshow is part sales job, part temperature check. He needs to show that he has listened to the American public, but he is also checking into specific resistance in changes in policy.

The rub is, we need new energy sources, and if it doesn’t come from offshore, than it must come from onshore or abroad. And those sources often pose far greater challenges.