Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Unintended consequences: How climate change activists may be causing air pollution
Platinum prices are soaring. If we are not short platinum (either because we do not trade it or have no compelling need to buy it), why should we care?
Platinum is essential to the production of catalytic converters, and without catalytic converters internal combustion engines cause a lot more air pollution than they do with them. That is why all automobile and truck engines sold in North America, Europe, Japan, and many other countries require them. No platinum means either engine shortages or more air pollution.
There is, in fact, a shortage of platinum, at least in the sense that industrial consumers of platinum have bid up the price massively in the last few years. Curiously, the shortage of platinum is the result of chronic electricity shortages in South Africa, which produces 80% of the world's platinum supply:
The problem is the chronic electricity shortages in South Africa. All of the greenhouse gases produced last month by the conferees in Davos did not result in this problem being “addressed”, as their organisers would put it. Now the only way to maintain existing clean air standards in the developed world is to build and operate, as rapidly as possible, a series of new coal-fired power stations to supply the country’s mines and refineries.
That won’t happen until 2012 at the earliest. In the meantime, the already absurdly high platinum price (up more than 40 per cent from a year ago), probably has to rise even higher to squeeze demand out of less critical applications such as jewellery...
How did South Africa, and the platinum industry, wind up in this mess? Apart from what could be easily mistaken for pure ineptitude on the part of the responsible ministries and the management of Eskom (the electricity utility), the country made a huge bet on the rapid development of hydroelectric resources in neighbouring countries. The state was strongly encouraged to do so by its political supporters among international organisations and foreign governments, since the alternative, coal-fired power, was not environmentally acceptable. The hydroelectric developments, principally around Inga Falls on the Congo River, would have been ambitious even if the political stability and engineering skills existed.
So it’s back to the drawing board, and on the drawing boards are going to be a series of coal stations.
At the margin, soaring platinum prices will discourage the sale of engines equipped with catalytic converters in developing markets. If the linked article is to be believed, the platinum squeeze depends from a shortage of reliable power in South Africa. That country, under the sway of climate change activists, bet the reliability of its power supply on massive hydroelectric projects in wholly unreliable countries in central Africa. Meanwhile, India, China, and the United States, all of which are much less susceptible to NGO pressure, are building hundreds of coal-fired power plants per year.
Oops.
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Feb 06, 11:40:00 PM:
Look at AL GORE traveling all over the world in his private jet and his gas guzzling 4 mpg limos as awell as all those various celeberties and the stupid ads from ENVIROMENMTAL DEFENSE
By 
davod, at
Thu Feb 07, 05:29:00 AM:
This is a toughie for the Gaia-Climate Change coalition because the Gaiaists would rather we not dig anything up out of Motehr Earth.
By , at
Thu Feb 07, 09:18:00 AM:
1. The technology of catalytic converters moves forward; the manufactureres use less Pt today than in cat-converters made 20 years ago
2. Recycling: as the price of Pt goes up, the benefits of recycling Pt in discarded converters becomes more attractive.
3. There are less efficient but still effective (cheaper) metal catalysts that could and might be substituted for Pt if the supply gets too lean.
Time marches on.
-David
By , at
Fri Feb 08, 11:23:00 AM:
"2. Recycling: as the price of Pt goes up, the benefits of recycling Pt in discarded converters becomes more attractive."
One of the "benefits" of recycling around here is that crooks are cutting catalytic converters out of cars in order to recycle the platinum in them. Of course, that unintended consequence might be okay with the AGW types as that's one less car on the road, eh?
By , at
Tue Feb 12, 12:43:00 AM:
many eco-wackos including AL GORE now woship GAIA and crack-pots like JAMES LOVELOCK acuialy perscribe to this gaia poppycock
