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Columnist and Environment

Could coal mining waste provide crucial elements for green tech?

Coal waste separation might sound deathly dull, but the waste from abandoned coal mines might be where we can find some of the rare elements needed for clean energy tech, discovers Graham Lawton

By Graham Lawton

15 November 2023

BFERM2 Bulldozer Spread Coal Mine Waste on Impoundment Dam

In Sylvester, West Virginia, a bulldozer spreads coal mine waste on a coal impoundment dam.

Jim West/Alamy

I AM writing this column from Lyme Regis on the south coast of England, a place very dear to my broken heart, and not just because I am a fossil hunter. My late wife and I spent many a happy holiday here pottering about looking for ammonites.

Now would be an unwise time to do the same. Just before I arrived, the town was battered by Storm CiarĂ¡n, causing several cliff collapses and leaving the beaches vulnerable to more. But yesterday…

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Image taken: 2nd March 2023 SNOW WAY! The surreal site of snow-draped cacti in Arizona???s Sonoran Desert was captured in breath-taking detail by Jack Dykinga last week. The scenes, which meteorologists have described as ???once in a generation??? demonstrate a rare convergence of nature???s extremes. The Sonoran desert is typically known for its arid sub-tropical climate. Even in winter, days are sunny and mild. But this month the area saw 2-4 inches of snow that lasted about 4 hours. Dykinga, who has been photographing the Sonorn Desert since 1976, says the last big snow was a full decade ago. He described this year???s otherworldly scenes as ???pure magic, seemingly out of place and strikingly beautiful.??? Before the snow arrived, the Desert looked completely different, boasting an explosion of flowers and clear blue skies. The reason for the uncharacteristic snowfall is not fully understood. The current La Ni??a event (a cyclic weather pattern that influences global weather) is partly responsible, coupled with a persistent blocking pattern over the Pacific Ocean and cold air migrating south from the Arctic. Climate change also means extreme weather events are becoming more likely.

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Rare photograph of snow in the usually baking hot Sonoran desert

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