[p2p-research] List of articles on Indium/Gallium Supplies

[marc fawzi]

When a certain resource hits that peak point, the search intensifies
for a substitute.

In the case of solar cells, the _substitute_ may be in the form of a
radically new technology based on photosynthesis + fuel cells (see MIT
press release in the previous message to this thread) which does not
involve silicon or gallium.

So the point that I want to make is that we cannot say that since
gallium and indium is running out then we should forget "solar energy"
altogether. The sun is an almost infinite source of energy. Once we
perfect how we draw power from the sun, e.g. using photosynthesis like
all plants have been doing since the birth of this planet, sustainable
abundance in solar energy generation will be possible.

And in the short term, enough gallium supplies exist, so sounding the
alarm without offering an alternative is what the problem is in my own
view. It's one thing to sound the alarm and at the same time offer an
alternative. It's a completely different thing to sound the alarm and
offer no alternative (for solar energy generation).

Having said that, sounding the alarm now maybe a bit premature to the
point where suppliers not faced with actual depletion conditions will
use the fear to raise prices and the victims will be all the solar
cell companies who are trying to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels
so this whole "alarm sounding" act with respect to gallium and indium
may be an attempt by Big Oil or other interests to kill the home solar
energy market before it starts.

Why not focus our "alarm raising" efforts on clean coal,
environmentally damaging oil drilling, and nuclear energy and give the
solar energy industry a break? After all, the solar energy industry is
the industry that will invest in new ideas for harvesting the sun's
power. Those ideas won't come from the clean coal or nuclear or oil
industries.

Sounding the alarm on gallium and indium now without hyping up the
story is OK as long as A) we don't knock down an industry that is
trying to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and B) we accompany
our alarm sounding with new ideas for getting energy efficiency from
the sun.

Otherwise, we're helping Big Oil, Clean Coal, and Nuclear industries
by creating an alarmist atmosphere around the solar energy industry
whereas what we need to create is hope in its future (think:
photosynthesis, solar cooking, solar heating, etc)

That's my opinion of course and I realize everyone has one :-)

Marc




On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 7:55 PM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you Kurt, this will help a lot,
>
> Michel
>
> On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 2:00 AM, Kurt Cobb <kurtcobb2001 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> Michel,
>>
>> I'm glad there is a discussion going on now.  Of course, people are still
>> saying we have plenty of oil and natural gas as well.  But the key issue
>> isn't when we run out of any of these key energy or mineral resources, but
>> when we peak!   It is the flow of critical materials, not the size of the
>> stocks that is important if we expect to continue to grow the world
>> economy.  Declining flows means resource constraints.  The rate of of
>> production is all important. Under these conditions vastly higher
>> consumption cannot be achieved.  Here are three articles that should
>> interest you on the topic of mineral depletion:
>>
>> Peak Minerals - Using USGS numbers the authors conclude that gallium
>> production has already peaked.
>> The Earth's Natural Wealth: An Audit - From New Scientist. Indium could be
>> gone in 10 years.
>> Metals Shortages - A nice summary with citations about our metals supply
>> predicament
>>
>> One correction from my previous email.  Gallium is, of course, a byproduct
>> of aluminum and zinc production.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Kurt Cobb
>> Resource Insights
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
>> To: Kurt Cobb <kurtcobb2001 at yahoo.com>
>> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:30:56 PM
>> Subject: Fwd: [p2p-research] List of articles on Indium/Gallium Supplies
>>
>>
>> http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:9xU1oL86m_EJ:www.indium.com/_dynamo/download.php%3Fdocid%3D552+gallium+indium+supply&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
>>
>> Dear Kurt,
>>
>> thanks again for your input which generate a lot of interesting comments
>> both on our blog and p2p research mailing list, your cooperation was much
>> appreciated,
>>
>> do you have any papers on the indium/gallium supply issue?
>>
>> Michel
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: marc fawzi <marc.fawzi at gmail.com>
>> Date: Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 2:54 AM
>> Subject: [p2p-research] List of articles on Indium/Gallium Supplies
>> To: Peer-To-Peer Research List <p2presearch at listcultures.org>
>>
>>
>> Re: viability of solar cell technology beyond silicon
>>
>> We had ample debate but (after asking twice) no one has provided a
>> link to the paper that says gallium/indium supplies are at risk of
>> being depleted in the short term.
>>
>> If anyone should like to provide links here to all such articles re:
>> supply of indium and/or gallium regardless of whether they may be
>> biased (fabricated conclusions of or bad analysis) not, please do so
>> right here.
>>
>> Here is the first link (from a corporation):
>>
>>
>> http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:9xU1oL86m_EJ:www.indium.com/_dynamo/download.php%3Fdocid%3D552+gallium+indium+supply&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
>>
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>
>
>
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> Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
> http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>
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>
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