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The United States could soon decrease its dependence on importing valuable rare earth elements by extracting it from coal.
Rare earth elements are widely used in electronics, such as smartphones and computers, and in many other industries.
China produces more than 85 percent of the world's rare earth elements (REEs), and the US produces the second most at just over 6 percent, according to the United States Geological Survey, which estimates worldwide demand for REEs to grow more than 5 percent annually through 2020.
"We have known for many decades that rare earth elements are found in coal seams and near other mineral veins," says Sarma Pisupati, professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State. "However, it was costly to extract the materials and there was relatively low demand until recently.
A Study on Removal of Rare Earth Elements from U.S. Coal Byproducts by Ion Exchange (DOI: 10.1007/s40553-015-0064-7)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gravis on Saturday February 06 2016, @08:19PM
"We have known for many decades that rare earth elements are found in coal seams and near other mineral veins," says Sarma Pisupati, professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State. "However, it was costly to extract the materials and there was relatively low demand until recently.
the US has environmental regulations to protect use from the disastrous and lethal effects of mining and chemical dumping without concern. we used to have rivers that caught fire but environmental regulation has stopped a lot of bad practices of the past. regulations require the proper treatment and disposal of byproducts in the US which is actually enforced. China has their own environmental regulations but they are weak and not enforced because they are trying to become an economic super power at [news.com.au] any [contextchina.com] cost [theguardian.com].
we could get our own REEs but it costs more money to that while following all the regulations than let another country trash the environment. if politicians wanted to protect the environment or even the livelihood of their their own countrymen, they would put heavy tariffs on goods coming from polluting countries. unfortunately, what they care about is getting re-elected via campaign donations be it from companies that do the polluting or companies that sell weapons to our enemies.