By the same token, there is still coal under wales, there is still tin under cornwall, etc etc.

Getting *at* this shit is one stage of the process, and getting stuff *done* to / with this shit is another.

Iceland has a huge hydroelectric power surplus, contrary to popular belief, transmission over distances of 500 miles or greater gets very lossy, so what do you do with it, what did you build it for?
In iceland’s case they built it because shiploads of bauxite comes in, and they use the cheap electric power to smelt it into aluminium , two electrodes, fucking *masses* of current and melt the shit out of it… so now bauxite is mined in one country and shipped to another for smelting, which means the smelters in the first country shut down.

You can’t just go back and build a smelter either, turns out there were all sorts of ancilliary trades and suppliers and skills and so on that you need to do that…. and they all went when you shut down the last smelter / mine / foundry / etc

Raw materials are all well and good, but it is all about skills and abilities and infrastructure required so that those skills and abilities can be effectively and economically applied.

Being able to make a domestic electric plug is one thing, being able to wire it up correctly and safely is another.

The video talks about weapons platforms, fuck that, name me ONE SINGLE high tech high end product made solely in the USA (or anywhere else in the west) that actually has any significant production runs.

Slightly off topic, any thoughts on the rare earth metal dilemma?

And why China is pushing green tech: