{"590785":{"#nid":"590785","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Can Energy Ever be Truly Green?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBritish researchers\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-39347620\u0022\u003Erecently discovered that Tropic Seamount, an extinct seafloor volcano near the Canary Islands, contains massive concentrations of tellurium\u003C\/a\u003E, an extremely scarce element which is a key component of high efficiency solar panels. Georgia Tech Assistant Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJennifer Glass\u003C\/strong\u003E, an expert on biogeochemistry, explains the significance of this discovery and why no energy is truly green.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers estimated that the Tropic Seamount contains one-twelfth of the world\u0026#39;s tellurium supply. This inevitably raises the question of whether mining companies should extract metals from the deep sea to meet the growing demand for tellurium for the \u0026ldquo;green\u0026rdquo; energy economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere has been no commercial deep-sea mining yet, but the future trade-off is looming. A likely method for seabed mining would be a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0171750\u0022\u003Eself-propelled\u0026nbsp;vehicle carrying a rock collector that would slide along the seafloor, possibly on tank-like tracks\u003C\/a\u003E, \u0026quot;lawn-mowing\u0026quot; the ocean sediment. This method could smother and trample seabed communities.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIs it wise to increase our solar capacity by destroying\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/echinoblog.blogspot.com\/2014\/08\/giant-deep-sea-amoebas-meet.html\u0022\u003Eone-of-a-kind marine animal species\u003C\/a\u003E? Obviously not. Yet all of us are complicit in our society\u0026#39;s reliance on precious metals mined from somewhere. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENo energy economy is truly green. All will use raw materials and generate waste. The question is how we switch from a carbon-fueled energy economy, with the inevitable byproduct of carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions, to a green economy, while minimizing the negative environmental repercussions to land- or marine-habitats hosting those essential resources.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMaybe there is another option. Consider the long-term citizen science\u0026nbsp;project led by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cce.caltech.edu\/content\/harry-b-gray\u0022\u003EProfessor Harry Gray of Caltech\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;called the\u0026nbsp;\u0026quot;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ccisolar.caltech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESolar Army\u0026quot;\u003C\/a\u003E, in search of the \u0026quot;holy grail\u0026quot; solar fuel. This mystery catalyst would be composed of a blend of common, cheap metals without the need for ultra-rare elements like tellurium. What is the catalyst of the future? By answering that question, engineers and scientists can -- literally! -- save the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003EMedia Contact\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EPhone:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EE-mail:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njason.maderer@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Prof. Jennifer Glass talks about earth sources of Tellurium and the future of solar energy"}],"uid":"33273","created_gmt":"2017-04-23 14:52:25","changed_gmt":"2017-04-23 15:05:31","author":"Emanuele Di Lorenzo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"590786":{"id":"590786","type":"image","title":"Tropic Seamount: The mountain stands about 3,000m tall","body":null,"created":"1492959512","gmt_created":"2017-04-23 14:58:32","changed":"1492959512","gmt_changed":"2017-04-23 14:58:32","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225090","name":"seamount-sonar-image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/seamount-sonar-image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/seamount-sonar-image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":25255,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/seamount-sonar-image.jpg?itok=NXVVHR0f"}},"253291":{"id":"253291","type":"image","title":"Dr. Jennifer Glass","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894931","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:51","alt":"Dr. Jennifer Glass","file":{"fid":"198148","name":"glass-profile.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/glass-profile_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/glass-profile_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":352190,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/glass-profile_0.jpg?itok=JP72dxDr"}}},"media_ids":["590786","253291"],"groups":[{"id":"565971","name":"Ocean Science and Engineering (OSE)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}