Silver: The Backbone of Modern Energy
Silver's use in the energy sector
From ancient furnaces to modern solar panels, the story of energy is intertwined with the tale of silver. This precious metal, often overshadowed by gold in the public eye, has quietly become the backbone of our energy future.
In the Bronze Age, wood-fired furnaces smelted metals, including silver, in places like ancient Athens and Rome. As civilizations advanced, so did their energy needs. The Industrial Revolution saw coal emerge as the dominant fuel source, powering steam engines and transforming manufacturing, transportation, and mining. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Mid Atlantic Rust belt with its rich coal deposits, became a hub of industrial growth.
The discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859 marked another pivotal moment in energy history. While oil quickly proved superior for transportation, coal continued to dominate power generation.
The late 19th century brought yet another revolution: electricity. In Pittsburgh, George Westinghouse acquired Nikola Tesla's patents for alternating current (AC) technology, which ultimately prevailed over Thomas Edison's direct current (DC) in the "War of Currents".
As we progressed through the 20th century, the energy landscape diversified further. Natural gas emerged as an efficient fuel for heating and cooking appliances.
Nuclear energy joined the mix, with silver playing a crucial role in control rods used to moderate nuclear fission in reactors.
Throughout this evolution, silver's role in energy production has grown exponentially. Its unique properties - superior conductivity, reflectivity, and thermal characteristics - make it indispensable in modern and future energy systems.
While silver played a minimal role in wood, coal, and oil-based energy systems, it has become crucial in electrical and solar technologies.
Silver is now integral to power plants, military, aerospace, AI data centers, offshore wind projects, robotics, electric trains, ships, busses and electric vehicles. In the solar energy sector, silver's importance has skyrocketed.
From consuming just 1 million ounces in 2000, the photovoltaic sector was using 19 million ounces annually by 2008. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that over 4,000 GW of new solar capacity will be added worldwide by 2030.
The silver loading for solar is higher than it used to be (because silver became too cheap) and solar product engineers figured out that if you double the silver loading the panel yields more energy and most of the cost in solar isn’t the panels themselves but the framing apparatus, and labor to install.
If Solar wasn’t subsidized it wouldn’t be very viable in the mainstream but would have some niche utility.
There are 700,000 ounces of Silver per gigawatt so between now and 2030 solar will devour 2,800,000,000. Yes I have the decimals placed correctly
2.8 Billion ounces
But Guess what folks
3.4 years of global silver mining to feed just one industry sector ain’t going to happen.
You think the military industrial complex (biggest user of silver) is going to allow Solar enthusiasts to gobble up all the Silver? No!
You think EV manufacturers are going to get pushed out of line from Solar Fans? No!
You think the thousands of aerospace companies are going to sit by and watch the Solar sector take all the silver? No!
Same with Robotics, AI, 5G, computers, nuclear energy, etc
Remember there are over 20,000 industrial uses for Silver. So all sectors have their hands out for the Silver metal
The Silver medal that is in its 6th year of supply deficit, each year less is pulled out of the ground
Each year with diminishing ore grades
and Mexico (The World’s #1 Silver producer) leaning in the direction of Cuba.
"Silver is too valuable and rare to be used in such large quantities for solar energy, so solar energy engineers will be busy searching through the metal pile for alternative solutions."
Keep your Eye on Copper Folks
OK, back to our regularly scheduled Silver Programming
.The analogy is clear: Silver is to energy what gunpowder is to guns, what gasoline is to cars, what hay is to horses. It's a critical component, a catalyst that enables the efficient production and distribution of energy in our modern world.
For investors looking to capitalize on the energy sector, silver presents a unique opportunity. Unlike oil investments, which are subject to geopolitical uncertainties such as OPEC decisions or Sleepy Joe Biden draining the strategic reserves for 2022 midterm votes, silver's role in energy is more stable and forward-looking.
As we march like mistreated villagers towards our AI, robotic,, space race, dystopian and electronic world , silver's importance is only set to increase. The metal is crucial for all these “modern” accessories and especially silver zinc and silver solid state advanced battery systems.