Earth's resources are running out   - is the thesis of this New 
Scientist article snippet (for the full article you need to join or to 
use Gargoyle)..

The claims are worrying, or should be. "Peak oil" has nothing on this 
:-).
This relates to many materials, but the emphasis here is on Platinum 
and especially the work of Dr Hazel Pritchard. This lady is interested 
in Platinum - but Dr Pritchard's special interest is in finding new 
sources and in its utilisation and conservation. She is also 
interested in the prospect of reclaiming it from city streets where it 
is deposited from catalytic converters, although the levsl involved 
make that prospect an uneconomic one at present. [[Traffic tunnels and 
their venticxllation systems may be a better target]].



        Russell

_______________________

Platinum is a far more limited resource than many other materials, 
with no known alternatives in many cases.

They say
        "It has been estimated that if all the 500 million vehicles in 
use today
        were re-equipped with fuel cells, operating losses would mean 
that all
        the world's sources of platinum would be exhausted within 15 
years."

A good case against fuel cells ? :-)


        http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg19426051.200?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19426051.200

__________________

Gargoyling -

A Royal Society ref to Dr Pritchard's work.

        http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1550

Cardiff University directory of expertise

        http://www.expertise.cf.ac.uk/staff.asp?details=561

Dr Hazel Prichard
School/Division School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences
Email sgchmp@cardiff.ac.uk
Area of Expertise Platinum and gold, Oceanic crustal rocks, Mineralogy 
and geochemistry, Economic geology, Geological exploration for metals
Languages Spoken  Portuguese
Work Telephone (029) 2087 4323



Many other references.


-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist