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Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
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Fun map. And these estimate and projections probably assume current technology, forgetting the possibility for breakthroughs in generation and storage tech.
Obviously, if the grid could become completely clean, this new aluminum process is all the more revolutionary. But there are entrenched political impediments. Maybe they can be cleared, but we certainly cannot wave it away.
I also would question the mining and production of "proprietary materials." Rio Tinto is a nasty miner. For example, they have a cruel and ecologically devastating mine proposal under development at Oak Flat in Arizona. An historic and sacred site to regional Apaches, also a state park, will be wiped off the map, turned into a giant toxic crater, because it is the most profitable way to get at the ore below. If that is how Rio Tinto hopes to get its "proprietary material" I think we might want to consider it a bit more closely and skeptically.