STEM Café: Critical Minerals: The Hidden Materials Required for Green Energy

Many of the technologies we need for green energy – such as advanced batteries and solar panels – are made from materials that exist in incredibly small proportions within the Earth. These critical metals and minerals are difficult to find, and often we know little about their processes of formation. We’re now facing urgent questions: do we have enough of these critical materials to support a shift to green energy sources in a timely manner? Or do we risk having found an answer to climate change but not being able to implement it in time? Speaker: Mark R. Frank, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, NIU Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment