extract

It is literally the largest and heaviest machine ever built by humans and it does one thing: extract coal.

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In North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, the largest machine that man has put on earth operates. Forget about huge ships, aircraft carrier either oil platforms: It’s an excavator. It is called Bagger 293, and its very existence is the moving memory of what industrial engineering is capable of when it is demanded without limits. What is it, exactly? The Bagger 293, also known as the MAN TAKRAF RB293, is a bucket wheel excavator (those that have a giant toothed disc at one end) designed for open pit mining. It was built by the German company TAKRAF, a subsidiary of the MAN group, between 1990 and 1995 in Leipzig. His goal from day one was only one: extract lignitethe so-called brown coal, in the Hambach mine, one of the largest mining operations in Europe. Today it remains operational, owned by RWE Power AG, Germany’s second largest energy producer. Numbers. It is 96 meters high, equivalent to a building of more than 30 floorsand 225 meters long, which is more than two football fields placed in a row. It weighs 14,200 tons. The Guinness Book of Records officially recognizes it as the largest and heaviest land vehicle in the world. Shares title with its predecessor, the Bagger 288although the 293 surpasses it in size and capacity. It also cannot be transported. And moving it about 120 kilometers requires more than three weeks of continuous work, with progress of just 5 or 6 kilometers a day. How it works istea monster. The heart of the machine is a 21.3 meter diameter rotating wheel armed with 18 buckets, large steel buckets, each capable of loading up to 15 cubic meters of material per cycle. That wheel spins non-stop, tearing off layers of earth and rock to reveal the veins of lignite, which are then transported by giant belts to the electricity generation plants. Under normal conditions, the Bagger 293 can move up to 240,000 tons of material in a single day. Furthermore, it is estimated that what it does in one day is equivalent to the manual work of about 40,000 miners. All this with only five operators on board, controlling the system from a central cockpit. electric appetite. To start such a structure, a direct external energy source of 16.56 megawatts is needed (about more than 22,500 HP if we do the conversion). This would be approximately equivalent to the electricity needed to supply a city of about 20,000 inhabitants. On the other hand, it should be noted that the Bagger 293 does not have its own conventional engine, it is permanently connected to the industrial electrical network. Its 12 steel tracks, each 3.8 meters wide, distribute the immense weight over the ground in a controlled manner so that the ground does not give way under it. Leaf where you work. The excavator works in the Hambach mine, the largest open-pit mine in Germany, with an approved area of ​​up to 8,500 hectares and a depth that reaches 500 meters below ground level. According to Bloombergthe mine produces around 40 million tonnes of lignite per year, enough to power around 8 million homes. But the mine is not without controversy. Brown coal is the most polluting fossil fuel per unit of energy produced, and the exploitation of Hambach 90% of the historic Hambach Forest has been wiped outan ecosystem more than 12,000 years old. As of 2012, environmental activists They occupied the remaining trees for years in a protest that ended up becoming a symbol of the climate debate in Germany. In 2018, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the mine’s expansion. Greta Thunberg herself visited the place in 2019stating that he found it “devastating” to see places like the Hambach mine. In January 2020, the German government agreed to preserve the remaining forest, and in August of that same year Germany committed to its definitive exit from coal by 2038. According to Global Energy Monitormining at the Hambach mine will cease in 2029, and the plan is to transform the territory into a reclaimed landscape that will include a large artificial lake. Images | Andreas Lippold (Wikimedia Commons), Stefan Fussan (Wikimedia Commons), Steve Rowell In Xataka | The key hidden infrastructure for AI is not data centers: it is undersea cables and the Middle East leads the way

If we want to live on the Moon we need oxygen and NASA already knows how to extract it: with a giant mirror

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Goodbye, Mars, the Moon has returned make it a priority. Really, except for an Elon Musk obsessed with terraform the red planetthe rest of the countries and even NASA had something between their minds: returning to the Moon. And come back in a big way, too, laying the foundations to create a settlement. For this we need oxygen, and NASA has just taken a great leap for humanity in the project to harvest oxygen from the lunar regolith. And all thanks to a giant mirror. In short. The Moon is a mine. Not only does it have enormous potential to obtain energy through photovoltaics, but it also has a huge amount of resources in its soil. The satellite is covered in ‘lunar dust’, also known as regolith, and part of its composition is oxygen. With current technology you can’t separate the chaff from the grain, but that’s where NASA’s carbothermal oxygen production reactor, or CaRD, project comes into play. The mirror | Photo: NASA The prototype installed on Earth is a reactor that has a huge precision mirror that concentrates a beam of sunlight on a reactor, heating its interior to temperatures of about 1,800ºC. The enormous amount of energy generated causes a carbothermic reaction which produces, among other elements, oxygen. It is the evolution of the high-power laser that NASA development in 2023, but unlike that tool that needs an enormous amount of energy, and other solutions based on electrolysismirrors are nourished by the sunlight they can concentrate. Regolith. According to According to the US agency, the technology “has the potential to produce several times its own weight in oxygen each year and in an automated manner, which will allow for a sustained human presence and the creation of a lunar economy.” And that lunar dust not only has oxygen. The regolith is composed of O2, but also metals. If the different components can be separated, we can obtain other resources and, in addition, the resulting dust as waste can be used as construction material for make bricks and roads. In fact, there are projects to ‘dope the regolith with bacteria to be able to cultivate directly in the lunar soil. The ESA approach. These advances by NASA occur while the rugged steps of the Artemis program which plans to take humans to lunar orbit this year, with future missions in which we will set foot on the satellite again. But as we said, the ESA also wants its piece of the pieand relies on electrolysis to separate metals from oxygen. Regolith and urine cement: the best cement | Photo: ESA The problem, as we said before, is the enormous amount of energy necessary to carry out the process. This molten salt electrolysis heats the regolith to 950ºC with calcium chloride to achieve the same objective that NASA has: release oxygen and separate it from iron and aluminum. And it is also collaborating with NASA to ensure that human presence in the medium term, experimenting with a mixture between human urine and regolith to create cement. Everyone wants a piece of cheese. But the one who has plans as ambitious as those of the United States with the Moon is… China. The Asian giant is completing phases of the space race dizzying speedwith launches every two by three and some very aggressive plans. Before 2030 it wants to send its first astronauts to orbit the satellite, with a manned moon landing scheduled for 2029/2030. Furthermore, together with Russia, they are building the International Lunar Research Station that they want to have in operation by 2030, complete by 2035 with thousands of scientists on board and with a nuclear reactor as a heart to get stable energy. When the enormous problem posed by the get oxygen stably on the Moona giant step will have been taken in international ambitions to place a long-term base on the satellite. That is, furthermore, SpaceX’s new plan. Elon Musk confirmed a few days ago that Mars was no longer the priority because quick results are needed, and the Moon is a much more favorable scenario. There are many eyes focused on the same objective, one we haven’t stepped on since 1972. Images | NASA, ESA In Xataka | Faced with the need to look for weapons against superbacteria, science has opted to send viruses into space

Mexico has a gigantic energy treasure under its feet. The plan to extract it is called fracking

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Mexico is walking on a treasure and, at the same time, on a political minefield. Under the land of states like Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, an energy giant sleeps: the sixth world reserves of unconventional gas. Waking him up was the great taboo of López Obrador’s six-year term, a red line drawn with the promise of “no to fracking“However, reality has knocked on the door of the National Palace. In a turn that redefines the new mandate, President Claudia Sheinbaum has faced an iron dilemma: staying true to the campaign promise of not using hydraulic fracturing or pursuing “energy sovereignty”, one of the almost mythical aspirations of the Mexican left, to stop depending on US gas. The president has already made a decision: she is willing to pay the political cost. What began as a rumor has become a budgetary and contractual reality in 2026. The data is compelling and leaves no room for doubt about the change in course. Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has increased its investment for this year in the “Gulf Tertiary Oil” program by 66%, going from 2,423 million pesos in 2025 to 4,016 million pesos in 2026, according to Treasury data obtained via transparency collected by The Universal. The machinery is already in motion. Pemex’s Strategic Plan (2025-2035) schedules the start of these operations after last year’s pilots. Pemex has awarded the first “mixed contracts” to private companies such as C5M, Geolis, CESIGSA and Petrolera Miahuapan. Although the state company retains the majority shareholding and control, it is the private parties who will provide the capital and technology, an urgent need for an oil company with a debt of more than 100 billion dollars. However, this injection of capital has raised alarm bells due to its opacity. The Mexican Alliance against Fracking denounces that in the 2026 Budget there are more than 245,000 million pesos allocated to gas projects that involve hydraulic fracturing, hidden under items that lack public breakdown and transparency, just as collected The Impartial. The semantics of dissimulation If he fracking was a “cursed word” in the previous six-year term, the new government has found a creative solution: change the dictionary. To avoid the political cost of openly announcing the use of fracking, the administration has chosen by a series of technical euphemisms. Rather frackingofficial documents speak of “reservoirs with complex geology” or “reservoir stimulation.” The general director of Pemex, Víctor Rodríguez Padilla, was blunt before the Senate: “We are not going to do frackingwe are taking advantage of technological development in evaluations of existing deposits.” But operational reality belies the rhetoric and breaks the discipline of official discourse. While euphemisms are used in the capital, on the ground urgency rules. The Undersecretary of Hydrocarbons of Tamaulipas, cited by The Countryrecently broke the taboo by declaring: “We talk it like it is here…hydraulic fracturing.” However, to understand the magnitude of the challenge, you have to look at the map. Pemex’s hopes are concentrated in three main basins: Burgos, Tampico-Misantla and Sabinas-Burro Picachos. The Burgos Basin is particularly relevant for being the natural extension towards the south of Eagle Ford in Texas, one of the deposits of shale most prolific of the American boom. If there is wealth north of the border, geology suggests there is wealth to the south as well. However, extracting this oil is not easy. The expert Miriam Grunstein illustrates the technical challenge starkly: the soil in these areas is a clayey “dump” and the crude oil has the density of “toothpaste.” This makes their exploitation extremely difficult, expensive and technologically demanding. Why go back to these complicated areas now? The answer is exhaustion. Pemex is pivoting toward the “unconventional” because its large conventional fields are drying up. It’s a portfolio decision to try to sustain the production platform in the face of the natural decline of traditional fields. If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu Behind Sheinbaum’s turn is a real geopolitical fear. Mexico imports 70% of the gas it consumes from the United States. “If the United States closes the valve, Mexico will be left in the dark,” recognized the head of Pemex himself. But the scenario is even more complex with the neighbor above led by Donald Trump and his vision of natural resources as national security. Recently, Washington has deployed the Project Vaulta strategy to secure critical minerals and counter China, which includes “geological mapping” of Mexican resources. The pressure is such that the Mexican government has had to give in to the harshest pragmatism. It was the Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, who summarized Mexico’s position regarding the US energy integration demands with a lapidary phrase: “If you are not at the table participating, you are on the menu.” Mexico has decided to sit at the table fracking to avoid being devoured. Furthermore, the lack of liquidity forces this opening. Reactivating the identified wells requires immediate investments of more than $1 billion, money that will now come from private partners. The decision has been made, but the results will not be immediate. Although investment skyrockets in 2026, specialists warn that the launch of massive exploitation will take between three and four years to yield tangible results. The government’s optimistic projections suggest that, in their most developed phase, these fields could provide an additional 300,000 barrels per day. To achieve this, the “Mixed Contracts” model will be the norm: Pemex collect immediate bonuses for the award (almost 50 million dollars in the first round alone) and lets the private parties assume the operational and financial risk. A very high price The cost of this decision is already being paid in credibility with the bases. Organizations like Greenpeace and the Mexican Alliance against Fracking They have accused Sheinbaum of “betraying the people who elected her.” The most critical point is water. In a country hit by drought, the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) estimates that 5.7 million liters of water are required per well. Greenpeace raise the alert citing the … Read more

Our computers are literally full, the problem is that it is almost impossible to extract it. Or we believed

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Gold is one of the metals with better electrical conductivity. For this reason, it is used in many electronic components, mainly in computers, but also in smartphones or sound systems. The problem is that extracting it from these pieces is very complicated and the cost it means does not compensate. Or we believed. Swiss researchers They have created a method to extract precious metal from a serum protein. Find gold in the trash. The components where gold is used most They are the PCB or printed circuit plates that we find in all types of devices, from computers to smartphones. It can also be found in processors, connectors and HDD hard drives. The problem, as we said, is that the existing methods to extract this metal are very complex and expensive. In addition, it is often necessary to use very toxic chemical components, although that does not stop that many Try it in your own houses. For all this, it is often not worth the effort to the small amounts that are extracted. The extraction process. Whey protein. Researchers at the Federal Polytechnic School of Zurich have managed to extract gold with a new more efficient, sustainable and cheap method. As? With serum protein ‘whey’ (yes, the Gym shakes). To do this, they submitted proteins to acidic conditions and high temperatures. These form nanofibers that are added to a gel and, after drying, forms a kind of sponge. It is not the first time we hear that Whey protein is used for similar purposes. A few months ago China managed to recycle the electric car batteries thanks to the glycine present in these shakes. Who was going to tell us that in addition to getting strong, it would serve to extract gold or recycle batteries. The method. The researchers used 20 computer base plates, from which they extracted all metal parts and dissolved them in an acid bath that ionized the metals. The next step was to submerge the sponge in the solution. Although there are other metals that adhere to the fibers that form it, the researchers discovered that gold ions adhere much better. Once “captured”, the sponge is heated and the ions are released and can melt to create a gold peep. Cheaper. The 20 motherboards resulted in a 450 milligrams gold cupcake with 91% purity (the remaining 9% was copper), or what is the same: 22 korates. At the current price of gold, La Pepita would have a value of about 35 euros. It is not much, but the researchers affirm that the cost of the materials and energy necessary for extraction is 50 times less than that of gold obtained. The next step is to climb this technology to be able to apply it to the market. Images | Eth zurich In Xataka | Our dependence on lithium batteries is worrying. These are the alternatives that aspire to replace them

Japan believes to have the largest deposit of rare earths hidden on a tiny island. And it is already date to extract them

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The Rare earth They are an element of great economic and geopolitical value and China stands as the greatest power. To its Japanese neighbors He didn’t make any grace have to depend on them and, after an exhaustive search, a year ago they found the treasure: A huge site of rare earths at the bottom of the ocean. Japan has already set date to start extracting them. January 2026. It is the date on which Japan will begin with the first test extraction, according to Nikkei Asia. They expected to start this year, but the delivery of the necessary duct to reach the deposit did not reach last May and delayed the project for a year. The duct, manufactured in the United Kingdom, has cost 12,000 million yen (about 71 million euros) and will allow them to reach a depth of 5,500 meters. The Chikyu. The Japanese Marine-Terrestrial Science and Technology Agency or JAMSTECfor its acronym in English, will use the chiichyu, the name received by the Japanese drilling boat with which these valuable minerals will extract. In 2022 they already did a test at 2,500 meters deep In front of the coast of the Ibaraki Prefecture, but the challenge they face now is to drill more than double deep: 5,500 meters. If they get it, it would be the first time that rare earths are extracted to so much depth. In the first phase, Chikyu will extract 35 tons of mud. It is estimated that a ton of mud contains about 2 kilos of rare earths, so, in the best case, we could be talking about 70 kilos of rare earths. A key discovery. As we said, Japan found the site almost a year ago in front of the island of Minami-Torishima, located about 1,900 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. The site is located in the exclusive economic zone of Japan, so their extraction corresponds to them. Among the minerals it contains, one of the most abundant would be gadolinio, used in the nuclear industry, and the disposium, used mainly in magnets for electric vehicles. It would also be rich in manganese, cobalt and nickel nodules, key components in the creation of batteries. The amount is not clear and is decisive. At first there was talk of a site of 16 million tons, which would place Japan in third place behind China (44 million) and Brazil (21 million). However, a Analysis of the University of Tokyo He pointed to the loot would be much more juicy: 230 million tons. If confirmed, Japan would overcome China and be placed as the largest reserve of rare earths in the world. Independence. Japan’s efforts to find rare earth date back to 2022 and had a clear goal: to be independent. Currently, Japan depends on imports to meet their needs of rare metals, with 60% of them from China. The Japanese government invested 6,000 million yen (about 42 million euros) in the first extractions and have made it a priority since then. Friction. As we said, China currently has the largest reserve of rare earth and that gives it A huge power. Just a few weeks ago something unusual happened: A combat fleet, headed by two Chinese aircraft carriershe entered the Japanese ZEE near the island of Minamitori. Japan He did not confirm If he presented a formal protest and just declared that he had sent “the appropriate message.” It is not the first time that China enters the Japanese area, nor are the friction between the two countries, But it is certainly a somewhat controversial maneuver given the economic importance of the area. Image | TNFSA In Xataka | Yonaguni’s Japanese island was known for its beauty and Bad Bunny. Now it is a military strength because of Taiwan

No one has managed to reach the mantle of the earth. China has built a ship to do it and, incidentally, extract energy

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The old aspiration of Julio Verne in ‘Journey to the center of the earth’ is still out of our reach, but the explorations under the seabed are increasingly deep. You just have to see the ship that China has just put into service. Meng Xiang. “Dream” in Chinese. A colossal ocean drilling vessel designed and built entirely In the Asian country to pierce the ocean bed descending up to a record distance of 11,000 meters. The objective: penetrate the earth’s crust and reach the mantle, a geological border that until now has only been able to study indirectly, creating new science while exploring new energy sources. A Boat. With 179.8 meters in length and 42,600 tons of displacement, the Meng Xiang is the new largest scientific research vessel in China, which, which consolidated the country’s position as a maritime superpower. Although it will focus on the South China Sea until 2035, the Meng Xiang could operate in any ocean in the world, supporting superstifones and the most extreme maritime conditions. What makes it unique. The true crown jewel is its drilling system: the world’s first hydraulic drilling tower capable of raising up to 907 tons with a double purpose: Perform oil and gas exploration perforationsand at the same time, take samples of geological nuclei for scientific research. Your ability to pierce 11 kilometers will allow you, for the first time, to obtain direct samples of this transition zone. The goal reminds the historical “Mohole Project” of the United States In the 60s, which although he laid the foundations for oceanic drilling, he never achieved his final objective. The new Chinese ship has the technology to get it. The unexplored border. Since the seismologist Croata Andrija Mohorovičić discovered it in 1909, “Moho discontinuity” It has been one of the most coveted borders by geology. It is the limit where the earthly, lighter cortex gives way to the much densest rocks of the mantle. Until now, our knowledge about this crucial layer comes from seismic data and the analysis of minerals expelled by volcanoes. China intends to kill two birds with an unprecedented scientific mission that, in turn, will expand its extractive capacity. What can find down there? In addition to oil, gas hydrates: a vast source of potential energy trapped in the seabed at great depths and low temperatures. Mastering his extraction could redefine the global energy map, in which China wants to be in the lead. Image | Xinhua In Xataka | In China there are scratching size ships sailing thousands of kilometers from the sea. All thanks to your cranes

Extract rare land of old batteries without going through China

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The efforts to electrify the world bring with them a growing demand for materials to make batteries. Materials that, to a large extent, depend on China. In full United States trade war against the Asian countrya solution is gaining strength: old battery mining. And a known name, that of JB Straubel, co -founder of Tesla, leads the race with his company Redwood Materials. Context. The world needs more batteries. The demand does not stop growing between the electrification of transport, with more than 57 million electric vehicles in circulation, and the energy transition, which requires large storage systems to compensate for the intermittent nature of renewable sources. The problem, in full tariff climb, is that most of the materials necessary to manufacture these batteries come from China. Especially rare earths, which explains the United States interest in Greenland and the Recent pressures on Ukraine. But these bets to produce materials outside China can take several years. An alternative. Urban mining. There is a huge amount of batteries already imported in countries such as the United States (electric cars, electric scooters, electric bicycles, consumer electronics) that contain a valuable metal mine. These materials can be recovered by recycling, which now seems like a very lucrative business. Unlike plastic recycling, which comes out much more expensive than the virgin material, the high value of batteries metals makes its recovery economically viable. Material redwood. Founded by JB Straubel (Tesla co -founder and one of Elon Musk’s trusted men), Material redwood It is one of the pioneer companies in this field. Your business model focuses on collecting batteries at the end of your useful life and Extract the relevant elements to create new batteries High quality. A few days ago was associated with Limewhich has a gigantic fleet of bicycles and electric scooters, to recycle its batteries. For Lime, whose batteries usually last about 500 cycles (between five and seven years), this alliance not only solves the problem of what to do with the inventory of old batteries, but also reinforces its sustainable company image. Almost everything is used. Redwood states that its recovery rate is up to 95-98% of materials To manufacture new batteries. The scale is significant: in 2024, he recycled 20 GWh of old car material, scooters, electronic devices and production residues; enough to produce about 250,000 batteries for electric vehicles. Together with Redwood, a recycling company, reuse companies have also appeared, Like the Canadian Moment Energy. His proposal is to take advantage of the batteries of withdrawn electric cars that still retain around 80% of their ability to create stationary energy storage systems. Give them a second life. They have collaborated with companies such as Mercedes-Benz Energy and have just received a subsidy of more than 20 million dollars from the United States Department of Energy to build the first “gigafactoría” of battery reuse in Texas. Although the recycling process and the logistics of collection of old batteries remain complex and expensive, the high value of the recovered materials, especially now with geopolitical pressure, is promoting these solutions that transform old batteries into a strategic source of resources or reuse for other uses. “Urban Mining” is a way to skip China and, therefore, a lucrative business. In Xataka | In the middle of the electric car, a Canadian company has smelled money: a battery recycling gigafacto

extract your own natural gas

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In the last two decades, China It has become in the largest importer of the world of natural gas (LNG). However, in a drastic turn of the event, the Asian giant will stop depending on the gas of others. This change will have consequences in the world market. Short. Large Chinese oil companies, such as Sinopec, CNOOC and Petrochina have put the focus on expanding their internal gas production, focusing on deeper perforations and the development of shale gas resources, such as have explained in Bloomberg. This new path responds to the deceleration of oil demand, the rise of electric vehicles and the growth of internal gas production, which would affect the projections of large international energy companies. New exploration in China. The three great Chinese oil companies are making significant investments in deep drilling, both on land and on the high seas. As has had access OilpriceThey are intensifying the exploitation of shale gas deposits, with notable advances in the Sichuan basin, and are also exploring deeper seas in search of new reserves. In the same medium it has been detailed that Petrochina He is drilling wells 10,000 meters deep to access gas and oil resources in complex rock formations. It will not be easy. This movement towards energy self -sufficiency raises several challenges, since the extraction of shale gas in China is between complex geological formations, which increases production costs. Nevertheless, as explained in Bloombergthe plans to obtain gas are already underway and they will not stop them. In check the global production. International companies such as Shell, Exxonmobil and Totalenergies had planned an increase in their LNG exports to China, waiting for the country to be the largest consumer. However, this change of plans by the Asian giant to produce more gas internally and depend less on imports will affect global supplies, altering the projections of large oil companies, According to Oilprice. And what will happen in Europe? The month of April has not begun very well in gas for Europe, since reserves have been left to zero, According to Bloomberg. However, the new change in gas consumption policies in China could be beneficial for the old continent, who needs to start fill their gas reserves. However, the situation remains uncertain. As Oilprice has pointed outalthough there would be more available gas, the competition for the LNG is still high, and logistics infrastructure to distribute it may not be completely adapted to these changes. This could affect Europe’s capacity to access that excess gas in time and lower prices. Forecasts. The projections indicate that, with the increase in internal production and the rise of electric vehicles, the need for LNG imports of China could decrease in the coming years. For this reason, there may be a drop in imports, which would affect the decisions of global gas producers. However, the current energy panorama is marking by Many geopolitical tensions They will affect oil. Recently, there has been an important change in the sector, with OPEC+, the United States and China involved in a complex situation. As has detailed the New York Timestariff policies and energy strategies are intertwining, which alters the flow of resources and causes greater uncertainty in crude oil markets, affecting the price of fuel worldwide. Image | Asian Development Bank (Flickr, CC BY-DC -nd 2.0) Xataka | In its effort to extract oil, China is beating records: it has drilled a well -deep well

All the resources that we can potentially extract from the moon, illustrated in this graphic developer

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Mars has become the long -awaited objective of space exploration. So much that the New “Manifest Destination” of the United States. This is something that has sown doubts about the future of Ambitious Artemis mission for go to the moonbut beyond to satisfy scientific curiosity, our satellite has a lot to offer as far as resources are concerned. And in this graph prepared by Visual Capitalist We can what resources we can get from the Moon and what is the degree of confidence we have for each of them. Scenery. The graph is more informative than attractive, that must be recognized, but clearly exposes not only what are the main resources of the moon, but the possibilities we have to take advantage of our current technology. Thus, we can see that there are resources that we have well measured, such as the amount of regolito or solar energyothers not calculated so precisely, and we can see clearly if they are resources that we can recover for land use right now or if they are resources that are out of our reach. Because, of course, one thing is to collect resources, and another very different to be able to pack them correctly and return them to the earth. Resources. The data that they have used for the elaboration of the graphic respond to those of the geological study that the United States developed in 2022 and there is something important that must be taken into account: we are at the dawn of something that seemed science fiction, the Mining on the Moon. There is a large presence of metals on the moon such as iron, titanium, aluminum or magnesium, but also the coveted silicon, which is the Base of our technology industry and solar panels. There are also ice-3, which is a Fuel potential for nuclear fusionrare metals, oxygen, and it is estimated that there is water, but not in a liquid state, but present in the form of ice in the craters that are permanently shaded. The main resources and their status are clearer in this table: resource Current classification Recoverable with our technology Reserve in 30 years Solar energy Measured Yeah Yeah Helio-3 Dear No A stranger Regolito Quantified No Yeah Oxygen in Regolito Quantified No Yeah Hydrogen retained water Quantified No Likely ice -shaped water Minimal or without evidence No A stranger Lunar mining. Before Elon Musk’s arrival to revolutionize space exploration at the governmental level, there were Plans For NASA to send drilling equipment to the Moon to establish a permanent extraction plant for 2032. It is an objective that may have been complicated taking into account recent events, but it is also something that would conflict with the Treaty of ultra -resters. That mining on the Moon is, as we say, very interesting due to the deposits we believe we have located in the satellite, but article 11 of the 1967 Treaty establishes that all the natural resources of the Moon are “common heritage of humanity.” In addition, “it cannot be subject to national appropriation through claims for sovereignty” and those resources “cannot be owned by any state, intergovernmental or non -governmental international organization, national organization or non -governmental entity or any natural person.” Interpretation of lunar soil by ESA Regolito. Returning to the graph, there are two resources that stand out on the rest, both because we know of their existence and because they are the simplest to take advantage of current technology. One of them is lunar dust, curiously. It is called a regolito And it is a carpet of rocky materials that has a couple of useful applications. The first thing is that it is composed of a large amount of oxygen and metals, elements that could be separated from dust to use them in other purposes. Through electrolysis, we can separate oxygen from metals and, although oxygen on Earth is a byproduct, on the moon it can be vital as a source of life. The dust obtained as waste can be used as construction material for brick or roads. There are other projects to take advantage of this abundant lunar resource: Improve regolito fertility through bacteria to be able to grow on the satellite floor. In fact, this soil fertilization is key not only for the colonization of the moon: also for the Martian adventures. Solar energy. Now, from the resources that we can extract from the moon and on the moon, solar energy is the most interesting. The reason is that we could start extracting in the short term because we have the technology to do so. In lunar poles, the sun is visible for long periods, so energy could be generated continuously because there is no rain with rain or clouds (this rainy March we have learned The price of rain in the generation of solar energy). To transmit that energy captured to Earth, lasers or microwave could be used. Projects. There are some in progress. On the one hand, we have Luna Ring, a Japanese project that wants to place a 400 -kilometer wide solar panel belt and 11,000 kilometers long (an absolute barbarity) around Ecuador lunar to send 13,000 theravats to the earth continuously. Is more than we currently need. On the other hand, the European Space Agency had the GE⊕-LPSa project that would consist of a lunar station with panels manufactured from lunar resources. Because yes, the regolito also has silicon and other metals that could be used in situ to make panels. Here the idea is to use that energy to feed the lunar bases. And another project is Blue Alchimist de Blue Origin. Again, taking advantage of the regolite to create panels, it also seeks to generate energy in an unlimited and constant way. Challenges. Now, they are not simple or cheap programs. Focusing on the most accurate project, which would be to produce energy because we know that there is light and we know how to send that energy to the earth, we … Read more

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