jhp123 parent
Hydrogen cars are no help here unfortunately, they also use metals such as steel and aluminum.
Rare-metals used in batteries are much problematic then steel and Al.
Steel is very problematic. 90% comes from China. Proven reserves of iron will run out at some point and we'll need to find new ones. Smelting uses coal. Iron mining is environmentally destructive.
Iron is one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust. It is not going to run out.
Amount in the crust is hardly relevant. After all there are trillions of tons of lithium etc. in the Earth's crust. Transition to a "hydrogen economy" would put unprecedented demand on existing sources. It's not realistic.
Hydrogen is also one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust. Hence why it will never run out. It is very relevant.