A new study finds that Earth has enough minerals and raw materials to meet the demand of shifting to green energy, pursuing solar and wind power at large.
As some advocate for greener energy, recent research looked into the capacity of our home planet to support renewable power technology.
(Photo : Miguel Villagran/Getty Images)
Aerial view shows photovoltaic panels standing in an array at a solar energy park on August 11, 2010 near Peiting, Germany. German politicians are debating the future of the government's subsidies for solar energy investments, with the federal government seeking to cut its current subsidies by between 11 and 16 percent.
Earth Has Enough Minerals to Shift to Wind, Solar Energy: Study
Now that the shift to renewable energy has slowly begun, some bystanders and observers are pointing out a new problem in embracing solar and wind power, the Associated Press reports. They are worried that the Earth cannot support it with key minerals potentially scarce.
But it turns out that our home planet has sufficient rare minerals and other raw materials to start ditching fossil fuel-powered electricity.
According to a recent study, the Earth has adequate minerals and raw materials needed to pursue green energy, focusing on renewable sources like wind and solar.
Singularity Hub notes in its story that the research looked at the estimated demand for at least 17 key renewable energy materials from 2020 to 2050.
It is worth noting that the rare earth minerals needed to shift to renewable energy are not that rare, contrary to what it is called.
(Photo : JOEL NITO/AFP via Getty Images)
Transmission lines climb above the hills of Bangui Bay, 27 September 2005, to deliver electricity generated by windmills in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte, northern Philippines. Standing in an arc in wind-lashed scrubland, the windmills, which started supplying electricity to 40 per cent of Ilocos Norte province in May, are the first source of clean energy introduced in the Phillipines, a nation with 84 million people reliant on oil and gas.
The Associated Press News notes that the United States Geological Survey claims that "rare earth minerals" are apparently "relatively abundant." They are found in smartphones, TVs, and LED light bulbs.
And on top of that, the raw materials that power renewable energy are common sightings after all. It includes glass, cement, and steel, which houses and high buildings feature.
Read Also: NASA Warns Asteroid as Big as the Largest African Elephant to Pass by Earth - Is it Close?
More Mining Needed?
Although the Earth has ample rare minerals and raw materials, the study concludes that shifting to renewable energy would require more mining.
The co-author of the study Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth and Stripe, notes what lies ahead of us in trying to ditch fossil fuel energy.
The climate scientist warns that "decarbonization will be big and messy." However, he says that "at the same time, we can do it." He added that he worries that our home planet will run out of the raw materials to pursue renewable energy.
Related Article: Astronomers May Have Discovered a Habitable Earth-mass Exoplanet 31 Light-Years Away
