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THE FUTURE OF PLATINUM MINING
Lunar platinum and alcohol fuel cells
Article # : platinum180
Lunar platinum and alcohol fuel cells
by Bill White
Monday, February 13, 2006
If platinum group metals (PGM) can be extracted from asteroid fragments found on the lunar surface, the potential exists to craft a viable scenario in which space exploration provides a tangible and quantifiable economic benefit to the Earth, all in the near term. Numerous uncertainties plainly exist, but if the Wingo Hypothesis—that asteroid impacts have deposited recoverable PGM on or near the lunar surface—is true (an open question that is eminently testable), that resource may provide the best near-term scenario for harvesting extraterrestrial resources to benefit the Earth’s economy in ways unrelated to space exploration.
Unlike helium-3 mining, a present day market for platinum already exists with prices hovering near $1000 per ounce. In the more distant future, helium-3 (He3) may well become an invaluable lunar resource if uranium for fission becomes too expensive or is deemed environmentally unacceptable. However, until practical fusion power is developed, the market for He3 will remain small, providing little or no present day demand for importing He3 from the Moon. While the export to LEO of liquid oxygen (LOX) or water extracted from polar ice deposits also offers real economic opportunity far sooner than PGM mining, the economic value of lunar LOX or water is entirely self-referential in that such resources have essentially no value except in the context of reducing the cost of space commerce. That said, extracting and using lunar LOX or water will reduce the costs of conducting PGM mining operations, and selling those resources to NASA or Bigelow Aerospace (for example) would provide a supplemental income stream for future PGM miners.
One argument against the economic viability of lunar PGM mining addresses the most discussed use for lunar platinum, that being the mass fabrication of hydrogen fuel cells, purportedly to replace the internal combustion engine in terrestrial automobiles. This is a valid objection since our species does not currently possess a hydrogen production and distribution capability capable of providing the hydrogen fuel that would be needed to operate large numbers of hydrogen fuel cell cars. On this exact point, Jeff Foust’s review of Dennis Wingo’s book Moonrush (see “Review: Moonrush”, The Space Review, August 16, 2004) observed as follows:
While PGMs are indeed a critical component of fuel cells, another critical component not freely available on Earth is hydrogen. Many fuel cells in use today get their hydrogen from the very same fossil fuels they are designed to replace, either directly or indirectly. If the “hydrogen economy” really is to flourish, a new way to generate hydrogen will be required.
Dr. Foust makes an excellent point. Hydrogen fuel cell cars have been heavily hyped in recent years, perhaps beyond what is realistic. Hydrogen delivery infrastructure is currently non-existent and pure hydrogen is not easily stored, transported or delivered to the much-hoped-for fuel cell automobile. Also, since extracting elemental hydrogen from larger molecules requires more energy than is recovered upon combustion, the economic benefits of an energy policy which relies upon hydrogen appears to strongly overstated, at least prior to deployment of significant power generation capacity based upon fission, fusion, or so-called “renewable energy”—solar, wind, tidal, and so on. But does this mean there cannot be a huge new market for lunar platinum, in the immediate future? This question requires a deeper investigation into various fuel cell technologies.
Source: thespacereview.com