Where does the material to transition to green come from and what does it cost?

We are constantly told through national and international media that we have to invest in green energy to “save the planet”. We are never really told what this involves in terms of impact on the planet. Here are some green facts you will never hear on the news:

1. Recycling wind turbine blades when they are no longer in use is incredibly complex – so they end up in landfill
2. Similarly, when solar panels reach end of life, the sheer volume of waste is too much for recycling capabilities to handle – so they go into landfill
3. Lithium-ion batteries which pose an enormous environmental risk, also end up in landfill
4. The materials necessary to supply this transition to “green energy” require extensive, fossil-fuel intensive mining
5. It will take 15-16 years just to open enough mines to meet the demand around the globe for these materials (lithium, copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt etc.)

Points 4 and 5 are addressed in greater detail below. in short, the supply simply cannot meet the demand. We are careering down a path building infrastructure that will be made redundant in a few years.

Mark P. Mills is a Senior Fellow with the Manhattan Institute. In this talk he goes through the delusion of what’s involved in meeting the requirements for green energy in terms of mineral mining. Mining is an energy-intensive activity, which is necessary to generate the lithium, nickel, cobalt and zinc used in batteries used to store energy for everything from mobile phones and eBikes to large scale battery storage facilities.

A great speaker, Mark Mills paints the true picture of mineral mining with pristine clarity. In simple terms, are there enough minerals to make the transition hoped for? The answer is no. For copper alone, the predicted shortfall is as follows:

It’s also worth noting from this talk from Mark Mills, that an electric car must drive 60,000 miles before it starts to be more carbon efficient than a combustion engine. (see 29-minute mark in the video).

This is not what we are told by our media, by our government. What we are told by the Irish government is that “the science is settled”. This must be challenged before we doom the next generation to what will amount to a toxic environment – all in the name of saving the planet.

By definition science is “the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained.”

We have to challenge assumptions. We are being taxed to the hilt in Ireland in pursuit of Net Zero policy and climate goals while we simultaneously pillage and pollute the earth by stealth. Who is making these decisions and hiding the truth from the public?