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Quick Review here of David S. Abraham “The Elements of Power!” This is a must-read book for those interested in the “elements” and side-affects of those “rare-earth” compounds that not only drive our modern digital/electronic age, “Green Technologies” and to a very large extent the “National Security” component of modern nations military's! It is a very well researched and thoroughly “documented” work, with one short-fall in that it does not contain an overall map of were all the rare-earth compounds come from across the globe. This is most likely due to as author states on page-16 of “hard-copy” version; “When companies can overcome those hurdles and procure rare metals, their material enters a channel of small trading shops where secrecy reigns and reliable delivery is prized…. Traders profit comes not only from the metals they peddle but also from their monopoly of information. There are profits in obscurity.” This is kind of like in the US State of Alabama, supposedly IAW a veteran whom looked into this, particularly Lower Alabama, where “titanium, silica, aluminum” are mined, apparently in “dredge” ponds, etc.. and the US EPA has supposedly sub-contracted the “environmental” oversight to the Alabama Dept. Environmental Management (ADEM), which in turn has farmed it out to the Alabama Home Builders Association, and it is exceedingly difficult per ADEM or other Alabama web-sites to ascertain what is in fact being mined or dredged by not only whom, but where! (see attached “Capture The Elements of Power.JPG”) It is also odd, for example, that Airbus, AUSTAL, and Thyssen-Krupp Steel, etc…set up shop this location- Mobile, AL, and even in Mississippi, given apparently the use of “titanium” etc… per the author, David S Abraham, in “aircraft” and ship/steel manufacturing….????In Chapter VIII “War Effort-Hard and Smart Metals” the author makes the point that going back to antiquity “a country’s ability to harvest the power of the periodic table has translated directly to the success of its military…” as he states on page-157! On pages 160-161 the author then describes how during World War I the Germans needed “molybdenum” and bought a mine in the US State of Colorado “planning to use American resources against the United States!” Luckily, “the plan never materialized” IAW the author on page-161. Sadly, this is not only example of this the author utilizes. On pages 163-165, the author “highlights” the importance of the element “germanium” which IAW the author on page-165 “is at the heart of thermal-imaging” systems… in aircraft, ships and tanks as well as weapons sights mounted onto rifles…” Furthermore, on page-165 the author asserts “although the U.S. military is reducing its use of germanium in thermal imaging equipment as its wars end, a potential conflict is spurring new demand.” IAW the author, on page-165 “rising tensions between China and its neighbors, most notably, Japan, over territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, are currently leading the demand for germanium.” A very powerful point, on the importance of these metal’s/elements!As far as Green Technology is concerned, on page-137 the author states “Green applications are far more than just wind turbines and solar panels; they are energy-efficient cars, lights and even elevators.” In Chapter VII- “Environmental Needs-Rare Metals Are Green” the author provides good examples of cost-metrics for various industries vs. the cost of using or not using rare earth metals. For example, on page-146 the author states “The consultancy McKinsey notes that with gasoline prices at about $3.50 a gallon, car companies that use batteries at prices below about $250 per kWh could produce electric vehicles competitively.” Clearly, taking about price points for bust or boom. And if boom, the author notes that the demand for “lithium” etc.. required in car batteries will also dramatically increase. Ergo, the author states on page-135, “And as abhorrent as this may sound to some environmentalists, green goals require increased mining and more processing of rare metals.” (Another good example is on page-150: “one may not think much about the power consumption of an elevator, but in the buildings that have them, the elevator uses 5 percent of the structures total energy use. Install a rare earth magnet motor in an elevator and it reduces energy use by half or more.”)Environmentally, speaking the author makes the point on page-180 “Cohen tells me that ten thousand to twenty thousand streams in the United States are now lifeless because companies failed to take precautions to prevent or remediate acid mine drainage.” Acid’s and other caustic chemicals of various sorts are an integral part of “separating” rare-earth elements from other compounds and or elements, like “copper” per the author!On a final note, the author makes a great point on education. The US for example is critically short of “material-scientists” and or engineers, whom are need to not only secure current advances in technology but the future as well. Additionally, the author makes a point, when talking “supply-chains,” that companies, often do not even know their own supply chain of rare earth elements due to things like sub-contracting out sub-components of major products….! This is per the author, highly problematic, and the US Military, where one major weapon system may cost billions, but contains in fact- thousands of sub-components that may have been sub-contracted out by the major supplier….to other smaller suppliers! IAW the author, it would take the US Military years to sort this out for all its weapons systems….! Perhaps, a workable solution, is when Congress grants the award of a contract for a major weapons system, the original “contractor” should be responsible for most all that weapons systems construction and/or sub-components in and of itself?????Conclusion: This is a highly informative work that all interested in “Geo-politics,” technology and as well as “national-security” should read- in addition to "Prisoners of Geography- Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World" by Tim Marshall (at Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Geography-Explain-Everything-Politics/dp/1501121472/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541921050&sr=8-1&keywords=prisoners+of+geography) as sort of tie together!