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The rare metals war : the dark side of clean energy and digital technologies / Guillaume Pitron ; translated by Bianca Jacobsohn.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: Melbourne, Vic. : Scribe, 2020Description: xi, 263 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781925849325
  • 1925849325
  • 1950354318
  • 9781950354313
Uniform titles:
  • Guerre des métaux rares. English
Subject(s):
Contents:
The rare metals curse -- The dark side of green and digital technologies -- Delocalised pollution -- The West under embargo -- High-tech hold-up -- The day China overtook the West -- The race for precision-guided missiles -- Mining goes global -- The last of the backwaters -- Epilogue.
Summary: Is the shift to renewable energy and digital devices going to free us from severe pollution, material shortages, and military tensions? Rare metals are essential to electric vehicles, fighter jets, wind turbines, and solar panels, and also to our smartphones, computers, tablets, and other everyday connected objects. But consumers know very little about how they are mined and traded, or the environmental, economic, and geopolitical costs of this dependence. This book reveals the dark side of the world that awaits us. It is an undercover tale of a technological odyssey that has promised much, and a look behind the scenes. Behind it all lurks China, which has captured the lion's share of the ownership and processing of rare metals we now can't do without. Drawing on six years of research across a dozen countries, this book shows that by breaking free of fossil fuels, we are in fact setting ourselves up for a new dependence--on rare metals that have become vital to our new ecological and digital society.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 338.2749 P686 Available 33111010406383
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The resources race is on. Powering our digital lives and green technologies are some of the Earth's most precious metals - but they are running out. And what will happen when they do?

The green-tech revolution has been lauded as the silver bullet to a new world. One that is at last free of oil, pollution, shortages, and cross-border tensions. Drawing on six years of research across a dozen countries, this book cuts across conventional green thinking to probe the hidden, dark side of green technology.

By breaking free of fossil fuels, we are in fact setting ourselves up for a new dependence - on rare metals such as cobalt, gold, and palladium. They are essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, our smartphones, computers, tablets, and other everyday connected objects. China has captured the lion's share of the rare metals industry, but consumers know very little about how they are mined and traded, or their environmental, economic, and geopolitical costs.

The Rare Metals War is a vital expose of the ticking time-bomb that lies beneath our new technological order. It uncovers the reality of our lavish and ambitious environmental quest that involves risks as formidable as those it seeks to resolve.


'The journalist and filmmaker warns against the optimistic belief that technology is the solution ... At a time when many claim to be "citizens of the world" or retreat into naive or hypocritical protectionism, Pitron's book is an attempt to open people's eyes to the consequences of their societal choices and lifestyles.'
- Green European Journal

'French Writer and analyst Guillaume Pitron warns about growing reliance on rare-earth metal - which are necessary to build high-tech products ... He shines a light on "the untold story" of the energy and digital transitions.'
- European Scientist

' E xposes the dirty underpinnings of clean technologies in a debut that raises valid questions about energy extraction.'
- Publishers Weekly

First published as: La guerre des métaux rares, 2018.

Includes bibliographical references.

Is the shift to renewable energy and digital devices going to free us from severe pollution, material shortages, and military tensions? Rare metals are essential to electric vehicles, fighter jets, wind turbines, and solar panels, and also to our smartphones, computers, tablets, and other everyday connected objects. But consumers know very little about how they are mined and traded, or the environmental, economic, and geopolitical costs of this dependence. This book reveals the dark side of the world that awaits us. It is an undercover tale of a technological odyssey that has promised much, and a look behind the scenes. Behind it all lurks China, which has captured the lion's share of the ownership and processing of rare metals we now can't do without. Drawing on six years of research across a dozen countries, this book shows that by breaking free of fossil fuels, we are in fact setting ourselves up for a new dependence--on rare metals that have become vital to our new ecological and digital society.

Translated from the French.

The rare metals curse -- The dark side of green and digital technologies -- Delocalised pollution -- The West under embargo -- High-tech hold-up -- The day China overtook the West -- The race for precision-guided missiles -- Mining goes global -- The last of the backwaters -- Epilogue.

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