2) Ship these to a smelter kept at 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. Smelters are powered by coal, natural gas, nuclear and/or hydropower, since solar PVs or wind turbines provide only intermittent power, and disrupting electricity's delivery to a smelter and could blow it up. The smelter "reduces" the silicon from the ore.
Since this first smelter can produce 98% pure silicon, and electronics require silicon with only one impurity part per billion, we've still got several more energy-intensive, toxic-waste-emitting steps to go.
Of course, manufacturing any mass-produced item (including solar PVs, vehicles with computers, appliances, TVs, etc.) involves fossil fuels, water, smelters, refineries, chemicals, plastics, intercontinental shipping, worker hazards and toxic waste.
Would tracing the supply chain of one substance in a computer or smartphone move users toward reducing dependence on international supply chains? Would it encourage us to move toward living within our ecological means?
Here's my invitation.
STEP 1: Pick one substance used in manufacturing a smartphone
The Screen: Aluminosilicate glass, aluminum, aluminum oxide, cerium, fluorinated greenhouse gas (F-GHG), gorilla glass, indium tin oxide, lead, lithium, nitric acid, oxide of silicon, potassium nitrate, sapphire, silicon dioxide, sulfuric acid, tin oxide.
The Battery: Aluminum, cadmium, carbon graphite, coal tar, cobalt, coltan, copper, graphite, lead, lithium cobalt oxide, lithium, manganese, mercury, nickel-metal hydride, organohalogen compounds, tantalum, zinc.
The Case: Aluminum alloys, bromine, magnesium, nickel, plastic, tin.
The Electronics (the circuit board, wiring, speakers, motors): Acetone, acetylene gas, antimony, arsenic, arsenic pentafluoride, arsine gas, benzene, beryllium, beryllium oxide, boron, boron tri-chloride (BC13),
boron trifluoride, cadmium, charcoal, chlorofluorocarbons, chloroform, chromium, coal, copper, diborane, dysprosium, eucalyptus trees, gallium,
gadolinium, gold, glycol ethers, hafnium, hydrochloric acid (HCL), hydrogen,
hydrogen chloride gas, hydrofluoric acid, indium, lanthanum, lead, methylene chloride, neodymium-iron-boron, nickel, perchloroethylene,
petroleum coke, palladium, phosphine, phosphorous, platinum, polychlorinated biphenyl, potassium, praseodynmium, quartz, scandium,
silicon tetrachloride, silicon wafers, silver, sulfur dioxide, tantalum, terbium, tin, titanium aluminum nitride, titanium nitride, toluene, tri-chloroethylene (TCE), tungsten, water, wood, xylene, yttrium, zinc.
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