Will Shortages Unplug Flat-Screen Industry?

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Saving Zinc

One way to save zinc is to give up our emotional attachments and finally do away with the virtually worthless penny (which is made from zinc, not copper). Every time this topic comes up, people make nostalgic pleas not to get rid of it and there are campaigns to keep it around which are, generally, funded by the zinc lobby. It's also my understanding that, at least at various points in time, it costs the government more money to produce the penny than it is actually worth. It's time to discontinue it.

Joe of NY @ May 28, 2009 09:01:35 AM

I may also be too late...

It's University of Augsburg by the way...

Running out of oil may not be a bad idea, we have alternatives and we also have legs and bicycles.

But the REE are somewhat more worrisome because we have not yet found any alternatives and we are making ourselves dependent on them...

Talleyrand @ Oct 09, 2008 04:40:09 AM

Recycling metals

I am probably too late for anyone to read this but I have always wondered about recovering metals from landfills, trash heapos and junkyards. How can it more economical to convert low grade iron ore into steel than to recover the steel from junked cars lining the highwyas? Similarly, if gallium, indium, hafnium, zinc, and copper are becoming rare and therefore expensive, won't some smart group start collecting electronic trash and salvage the raw materielas?

RGD of AK @ Jul 21, 2008 17:13:32 PM

Peak Oil

Peak Oil means we will be out of everything.

Global oil production is now declining, from 85 million barrels per day to 60 million barrels per day by 2015. At the same time demand will increase 14%. This is like a 45% drop in 7 years. No one can reverse this trend, nor can we conserve our way out of this catastrophe. Because the demand for oil is so high, it will always be higher than production; thus the depletion rate will continue until all recoverable oil is extracted.

We are facing the collapse of the highways that depend on diesel trucks for maintenance of bridges, cleaning culverts to avoid road washouts, snow plowing, roadbed and surface repair. When the highways fail, so will the power grid, as highways carry the parts, transformers, steel for pylons, and high tension cables, all from far away. With the highways out, there will be no food coming in from "outside," and without the power grid virtually nothing works, including home heating, pumping of gasoline and diesel, airports, communications, and automated systems.

This is documented in a free 48 page report that can be downloaded, website posted, distributed, and emailed: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html

Anyone interested in relocating to a sustainable area?

Clifford J. Wirth of NH @ Jul 09, 2008 19:48:25 PM

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Maura Judkis is a producer at U.S. News. She writes about the green movement and looks for ways to be an ecofriendly consumer without breaking the bank. Send her your green tips.

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