Green Technologies Dependant on Old Technologies
February 15, 2010
Natural News
By Ethan A. Huff
The advent of new “green” technologies may seem like a perfect remedy to many former methods that caused heavy pollution and environmental destruction. The only problem is that many of these new technologies require the mining of rare earth metals which often leads to the destruction of land, farms, and water supplies.
Coming primarily from China, rare earth metals like dysprosium and terbium are mined largely by criminal gangs who dominate the heavy metal mining industry. Because nearly all of the world’s supply of these metals is contained in China, the industry lacks any significant regulation. Gang owners are known for savagely tearing apart large swaths of land and leaving behind destructive acid solvents that ruin farmland and pollute rivers, streams and lakes.
The alternative energy industry is gaining popularity at breathtaking speed as nations strive to restructure their energy policies to use clean energy. Because China has a near monopoly on the mining operations that make these technologies possible, many nations including the U.S., are already investing in studies about alternatives to the existing alternatives.
The way it typically works is miners will gather the topsoil from a piece of land, move it into large dirt pits, and filter out the metals using acid washes that separate the metals from the soil. Once exhausted, large areas of barren, acid-tainted land remain where rice fields once lived. The heavy rains come and wash the acid residue downstream to other fields, contaminating them as well.
Even after mining operations are finished, cleanup is typically never done; workers simply move to the next site to begin the process again, extracting as much as possible with no consideration given to protecting the environment. Roughly half of the mining operations are legal and only a fraction of these operate responsibly; those operating illegally often use and abuse the land without providing any compensation to the farmers whose livelihoods are destroyed.
There is currently no effective way to identify which rare earth metals come from legitimate companies and which come from illegal, thug-controlled fly-by-nights. All of it simply gets imported together where it gets refined for use in military gear, wind turbines, electric batteries, and other technologies. In order to avoid detection, illegally derived rare earth metals are often mixed with steel and smuggled in order to hide them from customs agents, later to be extracted and sold.
Many experts believe that tougher regulation on the industry is necessary in order to make clean energy a reality. Otherwise the developed world might as well return to the old ways.
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Earth Running out of Rare Elements
January 26, 2010
NaturalNews
by Mike Adams
It’s the bubble you’ve probably never heard of: The rare earth bubble. And it’s due to pop in 2012, potentially devastating the industries of western nations that depend on these rare elements.
What industries are those? The automobile industry uses tens of thousands of tons of rare earth elements each year, and advanced military technology depends on these elements, too. Lots of “green” technologies depend on them, including wind turbines, low-energy light bulbs and hybrid car batteries. In fact, much of western civilization depends on rare earth elements such as terbium, lanthanum and neodymium.
So what’s the problem with these rare elements? 97 percent of the world’s supply comes from mines in China, and China is prepared to simply stop exporting these strategic elements to the rest of the world by 2012.
If that happens, the western world will be crippled by the collapse of available rare earth elements. Manufacturing of everything from computers and electronics to farm machinery will grind to a halt. Electronics will disappear from the shelves and prices for manufactured goods that depend on these rare elements will skyrocket.
These 17 rare earth elements (REE) — all of which are metals — are strategic resources upon which entire nations are built. In many ways, they are similar to rubber — a resource so valuable and important to the world that many experts call it the “fourth most important natural resource in the world,” right after water, steel and oil. Without rubber, you couldn’t drive your car to work or water your lawn. Many medical technologies would cease to work and virtually all commercial construction would grind to a halt.
Many of the strategic battles fought in World War II were fought, in fact, over control of rubber, most of which now comes through Singapore and its surrounding regions (Malaysia and Indonesia).
Global shortage of Rare Earth Elements coming…
Now, by threatening to cut off the world’s supply of rare earth elements, China appears to be attempting to monopolize this extremely important strategic resource. According to information received by The Independent, by 2012 China may cease all exports of rare earth elements, reserving them for its own economic expansion.
An article in that paper quotes REE expert Jack Lifton as saying, “A real crunch is coming. In America, Britain and elsewhere we have not yet woken up to the fact that there is an urgent need to secure the supply of rare earths from sources outside China.”
And yet virtually no one has heard of this problem! People are familiar with peak oil, global warming, ocean acidification, the national debt and the depletion of fossil water, but very few are aware of the looming crisis in rare metals… upon which much of western civilization rests.
For those who still aren’t convinced this is a big deal, consider this: Without rare earth elements, we would have no iPhones. Yeah, I know. That’s a disaster, huh?
We would have no fiber optic cables, either. No X-ray machines, no car stereos and no high-tech missile guidance systems for the military. And here’s the real kicker: No electric motors.
Remove Heavy Metals in the Body With Cilantro
November 09, 2009
Natural News
By Mike Adams
Heavy metals are extremely toxic to human neurology. Mercury, lead and cadmium all contribute aggressively to the deterioration of neurological function. Fortunately, there’s a simple, natural way to detox your body and remove these toxic substances from your tissues.
The solution is cilantro. It’s that magical-tasting herb often used in Mexican food recipes. As it turns out, cilantro not only taste great, it also binds to heavy metals and helps remove them from your body.
Below, we’re collected some important research on this remarkable ability of the cilantro herb. Read them all to learn more, then whip up your own delicious recipes using raw cilantro in your own kitchen!
Food, after all, is really potent medicine. You can also purchase cilantro liquid extracts from places like Baseline Nutritionals (their product is called “Metal Magic”) or other vendors of quality superfood supplements.
Cilantro removes heavy metals
Supplements helpful in the detoxification process include: cilantro, Vitamin C, selenium, garlic and others. Eating a clean diet, free of pesticides and hormones, is a must for a detoxification program. I encourage my patients to eat whole foods, with adequate amounts of protein. Eliminating the “whites”– refined sugar, refined flour, and refined salt will help any health condition and help any detoxification program. The glycemic index of carbohydrates can be a helpful guide on which carbohydrates to eat and which to avoid.
- The Miracle of Natural Hormones by David Brownstein
Add cilantro to meals; it can help remove heavy metals. Add dark green leafy vegetables, which contain chlorophyll, a helpful detoxifier. Get curcuminoids from spices such as turmeric. Try herbal detoxification teas containing mixtures of burdock root, dandelion root, ginger root, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, cardamom seed, cinnamon bark, and other herbs.
- Ultraprevention : The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life by Mark Hyman, M.D.
There are several natural chelation products that use only the cilantro and chlorella to extremely positive effect supporting the basic premises being put forth here. The addition of ALA brings in the leading work of Dr. Andrew Hall Cutler, who is one of the world’s leading experts on mercury detoxification. His extensive and successful use of ALA has won him a large devoted audience.
- Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus
Metal Magic is made from two simple herbs: cilantro and chlorella. Alone, each of these has the ability to bind with heavy metals, and together they make a very powerful metal detoxification substance that can literally pull mercury, lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals right out of your body, thereby sparing your body the damage that would normally be caused by those heavy metals. This is potentially a life-saving product, and it can certainly save the health of a fetus, if you happen to be pregnant or you plan to have a pregnancy in the near future.
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Super Food Chlorella to Remove Mercury and Other Metals
October 30, 2009
Natural News
By Mike Adams
There’s mercury everywhere around us, it seems. It’s in the food (seafood), the medicines (vaccines) and even the lights (compact fluorescent lights). And that doesn’t even cover mercury fillings still used by crazed dentists who insist mercury is “perfectly safe” to chew on!
All the sane people have already figured out that mercury is highly toxic to human health, but how do you get mercury out of your body once you’ve ingested it?
That’s where chlorella enters the picture. This amazing microalgae superfood binds to mercury and helps remove it from your body, safely and naturally. It doesn’t get 100% of the mercury out (chelation can help with that), but it does an amazingly good job for a natural, food-based dietary supplement.
I’ve taken chlorella for over a decade. It’s one of the mainstays of my nutritional supplementation (which also includes spirulina and astaxanthin). Learn more about chlorella in this collection of supporting quotes we’ve compiled for you.
Removing heavy metals with chlorella
Chlorella is a single-cell, fresh water algae that is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, chlorella growth factor, and other beneficial substances. It is about the size of a human erythrocyte (red blood cell) or about 2-8 microns in diameter. Chlorella is high in chlorophyll, giving it a rich green color. For many years, chlorella has been accepted as a detoxifier, and it is commonly used in colon cleansing regimes. Chlorella appears to bind to heavy metals as well as other toxic substances in the bowel and help with the detoxification process.
- Disease Prevention and Treatment by The Life Extension Editorial Staff
There are several species of chlorella. Those most commonly used in nutritional supplements are Chlorella vulgaris and Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Chlorella is rich in protein. In addition, it is rich in chlorophyll, carotenoids, such as astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, flavoxanthin, loraxanthin, neoxanthin and violaxanthin. Chlorella also contains the xanthophyll, echinenone.
- PDR for Nutritional Supplements by Sheldon Saul Hendler and David Rorvik
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