Demand for rare elements used in clean energy could help clean up abandoned coal mines in US [View all]
https://www.voanews.com/a/demand-for-rare-elements-used-in-clean-energy-could-help-clean-up-abandoned-coal-mines-in-us/7695127.html
Demand for rare elements used in clean energy could help clean up abandoned coal mines in US
July 13, 2024 3:00 AM
By Associated Press
[...]
Rather, researchers are finding that groundwater pouring out of this and other abandoned coal mines contains the rare earth elements and other valuable metals that are vital to making everything from electric vehicle motors to rechargeable batteries to fighter jets smaller, lighter or more powerful.
The pilot project run by West Virginia University is now part of an intensifying worldwide race to develop a secure supply of the valuable metals and, with more federal funding, it could grow to a commercial scale enterprise.
"The ultimate irony is that the stuff that has created climate change is now a solution, if we're smart about it," said John Quigley, a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The technology that has been piloted at this facility in West Virginia could also pioneer a way to clean up vast amounts of coal mine drainage that poisons waterways across Appalachia.
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