Among the attractive features of this process are that needed/valuable materials (REE) are recovered from a waste product (coal fly ash), and the recovery process uses a green solvent (CO2) and a lower-hazard chelator (citric acid). In order to communicate these benefits, a comparison to the current scenario (baseline) is needed. To do: 1. Read Lima et al. (2018). "Life cycle assessment of the production of rare earth oxides from a Brazilian ore". Note the steps of the LCA process and the metrics used to compare products or processes. Two other articles are provided on LCA, one for REE from ores (Navarro et al. 2014) and one for plastics that details the green chemistry and green engineering concepts (Tabone et al. 2010). 2. In your own words, describe the hazards of producing REE from ores and from current recovery methods from other wastes, like coal fly ash. Create a table like the one below that compares the safety and environmental impacts of the new process to the current ore and waste extraction processes. Be specific; phrases like "uses toxic chemicals" are too imprecise to be helpful. Table comparing hazards of REE production methods Submit: 1. If you were to use three LCA metrics to compare traditional mining of REE and supercritical fluid extraction of REE from coal fly ash, which three metrics would be the most helpful for making decisions between these processes? Explain your reasoning. 2. Name and describe what you see are the two most important advantages and disadvantages of the supercritical CO2 extraction of coal fly ash process in terms of sustainability: economic, environmental, and/or social