Update 5/13: Print-ready! Updated the links below.
Update, Fri 5/6: The beast, she is slain. Needs tweaks and I’m still fixing references, but it’s a paper. A very long paper. My eyes are sore.
(Previously:Â Part 1) is as done as it’s going to get tonight, and ready for critique. Have at it, folks! Note that technically it’s not a thesis, it’s a capstone. But when I say that, 85% of the time I get a blank stare.
Part one the whole shebang of “Making A Vicious Cycle Virtuous: Rare Earths as an E-Waste Case Study” in pdf. Here’s the accompanying poster.… Read the rest
Update: I’ve done a bunch more reading on this since I wrote it and I don’t totally agree with everything I said anymore. Specifically, the monopoly was a long time coming and export quotas have been ticking down since 2005. Yes, the market failed, but China’s export quotas may have as much to do with protecting natural resources as sending a message to the market. Will file an update soon.
Today we got some awesome lulz and a few, well, less awesome, being the first day of the fourth month which is dedicated to chicanery and such.
Tonight I was reading up on mining and recycling of rare earth metals like the stuff in super strong magnets, wind turbines, hybrid car batteries, compact fluorescents and LEDs. I found a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report about rare earths in the defense supply chain. Strangely, it was published on April Fools Day … Read the rest
Read MoreIn July, 2010 I presented a talk on my thesis topic, electronic waste, at the Hackers On Planet Earth, or HOPE conference in NYC. My main interests around the topic are environmental justice, externalized costs, and transboundary movement of commodities. Sounds a little dry, but it’s plenty juicy. Here’s a link to the presentation.
Electronic Waste: What’s Here and What’s Next.… Read the rest