Your Prius' Deepest, Darkest Secret.....

[Little Star]

Food for thought. Made me re-think some things........

Interesting article:


Mother Jones
By Kiera Butler
Nov 14, 2011

Your Prius' Deepest, Darkest Secret

So you're considering buying a hybrid car. Or maybe you already have. Good for you! You're saving a bundle on gas and reducing your environmental footprint at the same time. But fuel isn't the only natural resource that your car requires. Its motor also contains a small amount of neodymium, one of 17 elements listed at the very bottom of the periodic table. Known as the rare earths, these minerals are key to all kinds of green technology: Neodymium magnets turn wind turbines. Cerium helps reduce tailpipe emissions. Yttrium can form phosphors that make light in LED displays and compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Hybrid and electric cars often contain as many as eight different rare earths.

And the stuff is good for more than just renewable energy technology. Walk down the aisles of your local Best Buy and you'll be hard-pressed to find something that doesn't contain at least one of the rare earths, from smartphones to laptop batteries to flat-screen TVs. They're also crucial for defense technology—radar and sonar systems, tank engines, and the navigation systems in smart bombs.

Given all this, it's not surprising that the rare-earths industry is booming. Demand for the elements has skyrocketed in the past few years, and a recent report predicted it to grow by 50 percent by 2017.

MORE AT:
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/10/rare-earths-prius-molycorp

[MADem]

1. No rare earths used in the manufacture of that bicycle! nt

[jberryhill]

2. "Neodymium magnets turn wind turbines"

Lol... and all this time I thought it was the wind that did that.

[Gold Metal Flake]

7. I guess sometimes the current reverses direction...

:rofl:

[Mimosa]

3. Controlling rare earth supplies is mainly why we're in Afghanistan

If you don't believe me, start googling.

[Little Star]

8. Exactly.

[formercia]

4. Prices have dropped considerably

Now that new sources are coming online and old ones are being reactivated. Speculation also played a big part in the rise in prices after China announced it would restrict supplies.

These elements are also recyclable in many cases such as rare-earth Magnets.

[Romulox]

5. Oh. I thought this was going to be about captive "guest workers" who actually make the Prius...

Still, you should see my MPG! But by all means, SOLIDARITY! in all other respects. :shrug:

The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are “stripped of their passports and often forced to work — including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota — 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.” Workers are forced to live in company dormitories and deported for complaining about poor treatment, the report finds.

Low-wage temporary workers make up one-third of Toyota’s Prius assembly-line workers, mostly in the auto-parts supply chain. They are signed to contracts for periods as short as four months, and are paid only 60 percent of a full-time employee’s wage.

Parts plants run by subcontractors advertise standard, nine-hour, five-day-a-week jobs. But according to the NLC, “the typical shift was 15 to 16.5 hours a day, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. or 1:00 a.m.”

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3796/the_dark_side_of_the_toyota_prius/

[deaniac21]

6. Never met a girl could make me feel the way that you do.

(You're all right).
Whenever I'm asked what makes-a my dreams real, I tell em you do.
(You're outta sight).
Well tweedle dee, tweedle dum, look out baby 'cause here I come.

(Aaahh) Bringin' you a love that's true, Get ready, get ready
(Aaahh) Stop makin' love to you, Get ready, get ready.
(Aaahh) Get ready, cause here I come (on my way)

You wanna play hide and seek with love, let me remind ya.
(You're all right).
Lovin' you're gonna miss, and the time it takes to find ya.
(You're outta sight).
Fe Fi Fo Fo Fum, Look out baby now here I come.

(Aaahh) Bringin' you a love that's true, Get ready, get ready
(Aaahh) Stop makin' love to you, Get ready, get ready.
(Aaahh) Get ready, cause here I come (on my way)

If all my friends shouldn't want me to, I think I'll understand
(You're alright)
Hope I get to you before they do cause, that's how I planned it.
(You're outta sight)
Well tweedle dee, tweedle dum, look out baby 'cause here I come.

(Aaahh) Bringin' you a love that's true, Get ready, get ready
(Aaahh) Stop makin' love to you, Get ready, get ready.
(Aaahh) Get ready, cause here I come (on my way)