Ryan Alimento
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ryanalimento.bsky.social
Ryan Alimento
@ryanalimento.bsky.social
Climate & energy analyst at the Breakthrough Institute
Industrial decarb, clean tech supply chains, energy for development
Chemical/energy engineer
Science is cool!!
3 of the 5 PSC commissioners have stayed in power since 2022 after the 2022 election was cancelled

GA's PSC has voted to raise rates 6 times since the cancelled election

Monthly electric bills for residents served by Georgia Power are $43 more than they were 2 years ago
November 7, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Rare earths actually enable lasers of all kinds used in:
- LiDAR
- Self-driving cars
- LASIK
- Breaking up kidney stones
- Photolithography & chip-making
November 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
As a 23 y/o who will be having my mid-life crisis in 2050, I feel uniquely justified in saying: “screw the 2050 deadline”
October 4, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I'm very interested in hearing more about the rationale behind designating REE investments as uneconomical...
August 22, 2025 at 2:03 PM
An interesting note: "A former U.S. official said the Biden administration considered using CHIPS Act grants for rare earths but decided it was uneconomical, required many environmental exemptions and was best left for the Department of Energy to handle."
August 22, 2025 at 2:03 PM
They mention earlier "Other countries, most notably China, offer massive industrial subsidies, overproduce exports, and disregard labor rules and environmental concerns."

These factors (among many others) underpin the Chinese manufacturing behemoth. Not autonomous robot arms & Boston robotics dogs
August 21, 2025 at 2:30 PM
So yeah, that's how rare earth magnets get made. It's niche, advanced metallurgy that needs well-trained technicians to operate equipment

Also materials/mechanical/chemical engineers to do rigorous quality tests and certify the product as industrial grade
August 1, 2025 at 5:26 PM
From there, the magnets get shaped, coated to protect against oxidation and then magnetized in a 3~5 Tesla field to "lock in" the magnetic properties
August 1, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The last big step is annealing. Basically, slowly cooling the 1000°C metal in stages (still like 600°C). This "massages" out tension in the microstructure, giving the magnet even MORE magnetic power
August 1, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Sintering lets us control the atomic/crystal structure of the material

Crystal structure matters for the same reason why diamond and graphite/pencil led are both carbon but have such different properties
August 1, 2025 at 5:26 PM