All Posts Tagged With: "Magnets"
Complex solutions give little wriggle room
Energy creation is relatively simple in theory. Rare earth high gauss magnets spin past copper coils along a magnetically permeable stator core and electromotive force (EMF) is the result. While there are a myriad of technical details that optimize this effect nothing more complicates the production of energy today than the geopolitical climate surrounding rare earth elements (REE).
World demand for energy production is growing exponentially at 10% per year and rare earth elements play a key role. Presently, it is estimated that 90% of the world supply of REE are in China and China consumes 65% of that supply. Asia and Japan consume 25% and the US uses 10%.
Demand for REE is expected to exceed the known reserves by 2012 and China, as a result of the Olympics and production cutbacks is reducing exports of REE to 22% curtailing output by Japanese hybrid vehicle manufacturers. China is also buying up copper mines around the world and all this demonstrates that renewable energies are dependent upon good relations with our largest creditor.
The more complex, sophisticated and technical our society has become has added a layer of dependence not seen in preindustrial times upon our resource depleted nation. We cannot start addressing these issues soon enough because industry was born out of the easily obtained resources that clung to the surface and now those resources are much harder to obtain.
Sustainable industrial societies are now hindered by the complexity created by the benefits of modernization, namely electricity we have all come to rely upon. In South Africa, production of platinum used in catalytic converters and computer hard drives has been severely impaired by chronic rolling electricity blackouts. Platinum, unlike gold is driven by market demand and supply. With 80% of the supply being in South Africa even the US recession and subsequent lower car sales will not result in lower prices or higher availability.
The availability of REE and platinum and copper are naturally a significant part of the business plan for a small renewable energy start up like mine. The more driven I am toward sustainability and energy independence the more I discover that factors totally beyond my control like US foreign policy and the declining US dollar make those goals harder and harder to reach.
There are other REE deposits but like off shore oil, they are less accessible and access must yet be developed. Complex industrial infrastructure is necessary to extract these resources and the very complexity of these solutions doesn’t allow for errors or false steps. Catastrophic events, hurricanes like Katrina, earthquakes, tsunamis, climate change, global economic downturns and war don’t allow us the luxury of complexity.
Complex solutions to increasing energy needs are going to show diminishing returns over time and is one of the reasons I support localizing food production as well as energy production and other essential services. As resources become more scarce and difficult to obtain we have less time to find complex solutions to societal problems. Sometimes the best way is the simple way and local independence, living with the resources at hand, may be the simple way.
Trade deficit is weakening our global standing
Probably everyone has noticed already but crude oil hit $126 a barrel on Friday, just in time for the summer driving season. The significance of this is deeply reflected in our national trade deficit where according to the US Department of Energy we import 12 to 14 million barrels of oil per day. Foreign oil imports account for over $1.5B per day and are the single largest contributor to our balance of trade deficit.
Importing oil and foreign goods exports local dollars and has contributed to the decline in value of US currency. Iran, the second largest oil producer in OPEC has stopped conducting transactions in US dollars, in favor of euros or the yen, to reduce their reliance on Washington economic and foreign policy.
America once produced enough domestic oil to provide cheap gas and even to export surplus resources and build our economy but those days are over. Exporting our dollars leaves less money available to invest in our infrastructure or even to invest in other sources of wealth. In contrast, China with whom we have a record $233B trade deficit, recently secured control over one of the world’s largest copper mines in Afghanistan.
Copper is a necessary component in the production of electricity along with magnets. China is estimated to hold 98% of the world’s neodymium reserves used in the production of high gauss magnets critical to the production of electricity. It would be fair to speculate that China is heavily vested in energy production.
The US is the largest oil consumer in the world and with domestic production drying up it is no wonder that our trade imbalance is so high. Presently, at an average of 27 gallons per day per soldier, the Pentagon accounts for the largest percentage of oil consumption spending $14M per day or over $5B a year just to stay in Iraq. Estimates indicate that the US military consumes as much oil as it liberates occupying Iraq.
It is worth noting that our defense systems are heavily dependent upon magnets as well as oil. Every fighter jet, weapons and guidance system, humvee and hand held communications device requires magnets, most of which are gotten directly or indirectly from China
So sorry is our dependence upon foreign oil that Russia, which now produces much more power than it consumes, is now outpacing the US on strategic energy alliances. Our dependence has greatly weakened our standing around the globe.
Oil company profits are at record highs, averaging $1,300 per second while consumers are paying record highs at the pump. One consequence of this demand on our pocketbooks is that our consumption has dropped which induced a record 5.7% drop in imports last March. This resulted in a .3% greater than expected increase in economic growth according to the US Department of Commerce.
Certainly .3% is not a lot but it is something and demonstrates the importance of if not having a trade surplus at least balancing imports and exports. Coos County suffers from a trade deficit as well and exporting our dollars instead of localizing them has the county labeled as economically distressed and suffering from high unemployment.
Like the national statistics this impaired spending may force us to consume less or rethink ways of keeping our dollars local. Obviously, one way is to use less energy or start producing energy locally. Small things can make a difference. Last March during Earth Hour communities around the globe participated by turning off lights and appliances for one hour and in Sydney, Australia it amounted to a 10% reduction in energy use across the city. Here in Coquille the only house dark during the hour as we walked around was mine and a friend’s.
Our economy will force us into conservation but we can also voluntarily take daily small steps toward local economic independence and environmental responsibility. Walk or ride a bike whenever possible. Turn off your lights and refrigerator for an hour each day. Buy locally grown produce that isn’t shipped and imported from outside the county. We need to keep our dollars local.
Scrap copper worth its weight in copper
The price of copper is rising due in no small part to the increase in power generation. Foreclosed on homes are being gutted of copper pipes and sold at scrap and then exported to, yup, you guessed it, China.
scrap copper sells for about $3.50 a pound — against 70 cents just three years ago.
He and other scrap traders estimate that more than 80 percent of recycled copper is exported to China and India.
Warren Gelman, president of merchant broker Kataman Metals Inc in St Louis, Missouri, said illegal trade is just a small fraction of the scrap metals business.
Copper and magnets are the new gold rush in this brave new world of energy consumption.
Energy, copper, magnets and China, again!
As the developer of a high efficiency wind turbine and high bandwidth direct drive DC generator, I pay close attention to the price of copper and magnets as they are crucial to creating energy. Previously I wrote how China having 98% of the world’s neodymium reserves holds the market on high gauss magnets. The Department of Defense has been tasked with determining whether US reliance on China for crucial components is putting our national security at risk…
China dominates the market for production of certain high performance magnets (primarily rare earth and aluminum-nickel-cobalt magnets) that are important to defense applications such as radar systems, submarine valves, missiles, military aircraft, inertial devices, and precision-guided weapons. Domestic production of these magnets has declined over the past decade. However, DoD demand for these magnets is less than 0.5% of worldwide demand, and the Department is able to access the high performance magnets it requires from domestic sources. The Department is examining whether there is any likely future risk to the domestic high performance magnet industry that would require DoD action.
While the official response from DoD is that the military is able to obtain all magnets from domestic sources, those domestic sources must still obtain those magnets from China, Now China has scored another energy coup with an investment by China Metallurgical Group’s $4 billion investment in one of the world’s largest copper fields in Afghanistan.
The project involves US$4 billion in investment by China Metallurgical Group, which will be by far the biggest foreign investment in Afghanistan and is estimated to provide employment for 10,000 people. Significantly, the project includes the development of a railway system linking Afghanistan to China. (Nepal also has sought the extension of China’s railway system from Lhasa to Kathmandu.)
China’s present and projected power consumption needs can easily explain why they are intent upon maintaining a ready supply of materials necessary to meet those needs. How this effects the US’ equally voracious energy appetite is unclear but this appears to me to be yet another consequence of our foreign policy failures in the Middle East and puts Afghanistan back on the front burner
Magnets, China and national security
Selling arms is such a convoluted business and it seems there is never any end to when it may return to bite you. Take this article from Asia Times where US meddling in foreign affiars has ticked off our largest creditor.
Large-scale air and naval maneuvers off China’s southeast coast last week demonstrated the post-17th Party Congress leadership’s determination to project hard power in view of tension in the Taiwan Strait. The week-long war games, which coincided with Beijing’s sudden cancellation of the USS Kitty Hawk battle group’s Hong Kong port call, are also meant to convey Beijing’s displeasure with Washington’s recent decision to sell weapons to Taiwan and to honor the Dalai Lama.
Moreover, this show of force reflects the commitment of President Hu Jintao, who was re-elected chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) at the congress, to speed up the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) already formidable arsenal.
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Several hundred commercial flights along China’s southeast coast – the majority of which originated from airports in Shanghai and Guangzhou – were postponed during the exercises. It was not until last Saturday that the East China Civil Aviation Bureau lifted the highly disruptive aviation control (People’s Daily, November 26). Li Jingao, an official of the CAAC East China Air Traffic Management Bureau, claimed: “The delay resulted from a backlog caused by the control in previous days.” Military analysts noted that PLA authorities did not want the Kitty Hawk battle group – whose 8,000-odd sailors had earlier planned to spend Thanksgiving in Hong Kong – to be in the vicinity.This is despite the fact that during his visit to Beijing earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his hosts made new pledges to boost confidence-building measures, including establishing a military-to-military hotline. On a deeper level, the Kitty Hawk incident reflected Beijing’s anger at Washington’s plan to sell Taiwan a $940 million upgrade to its Patriot II anti-missile shield. Beijing apparently also wanted to protest President George W Bush’s presence at a congressional ceremony last month honoring the Dalai Lama, leader of Tibet’s pro-independence movement and deemed a “separatist” by Beijing.
There are also indications that this stupendous muscle-flexing was targeting more than the usual suspects; for examples Taiwan and the United States. Parts of the exercises took place close to the disputed Paracel Islands, including the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos in the South China Sea, a few islets whose sovereignty is claimed by Vietnam. Last Friday, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry pointed out that the war games were a “violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty”.
So what does all this have to do with magnets? Given my involvment now with wind energy the pricing and availability of magnets has brought some alarming issues to my attention. It so happens that high gauss magnets such as rare earth neodymiums used in my work are locked up by the Chinese, the causes of which can be traced back decades and directly tied to profits of US corporations. Today our missile guidance systems, jet fighters, defense monitoring, almost everything the military uses is beholden to little magnets that can only be got from China!
Thank you for this M. I've been asking on The World and The Forum for the Editorial Board at The ...
http://www.larryvanelsberg2010.com/index.html 
Thanks, Den, this is very useful 