Summary
There are three material based technologies for the production of sustainable energy by the conversion of sunlight to electricity by thin-film photovoltaic devices: 1, Amorphous silicon, 2. Cadmium telluride, and 3. Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide There is no shortage possible of silicon, but there are limits to both the rate of production of cadmium, tellurium, indium, gallium, and selenium and the total amount of each of them that can be recovered altogether. Today we're going to look at The tellurium (Supply) Conjecture.
Analysis
The National Academies is about to publish (2009) a study entitled: "Electricity from Renewable Resources: Status, Prospects, and Impediments." It can be read for free or purchased as a bound volume and a downloadable pdf file by going to http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12619.
I urge you to go to the URL above and click on the "Free resources" link, which will allow you to read the whole book. Then go to the right hand side of the page that allows you to open the individual chapters of the book and enter the word "tellurium" where it says "Search this book." You will be given a list of places where the word "tellurium" appears in the study.Once there click on the phrase "show in context" where it is next to the large numeral "3." You should then read the page that will display.
This will give you an idea of what the experts chosen by the National Academies to make this study think about the supply of tellurium as it relates to the thin film photovoltaic cell technology being promoted by First Solar.
Now please go to an article I wrote on SeekingAlpha about the same topic, entitled "The Tellurium Supply Conjecture"
I will be making comments on SeekingAlpha over the next few months on the supply conjectures for all of the rare metals needed for sustainable and alternate energy technologies. Tellurium is a good place to start.
