Limitations on mining for electricity

Just for electricity from EV batteries, and the electricity occasionally generated from wind turbines and solar panels, the World Bank estimates that more than three billion tons of metals and minerals could be required over the next three decades.

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|2023-06-14T11:42:19-04:00June 15th, 2023|Comments Off on Limitations on mining for electricity

Tesla rejects batteries for net zero storage

When a world leader in grid scale batteries says they are not the way to net zero electric power it is a big thing.

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|2023-04-16T03:57:17-04:00April 17th, 2023|Comments Off on Tesla rejects batteries for net zero storage

Astronomical battery cost looms over “renewables”

The amount of storage needed to make renewables reliable is so huge that even if the cost dropped fantastically we still could not afford it.

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|2022-12-11T14:54:20-05:00December 15th, 2022|Comments Off on Astronomical battery cost looms over “renewables”

Backup battery cost fantasies abound

Energy policy needs to be based on sound engineering estimates, not wishful fantasies.

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|2022-06-13T14:11:24-04:00June 8th, 2022|Comments Off on Backup battery cost fantasies abound

ZEV subsidies fail equity, economics, and environmental tests

“I’m literally saying get rid of all subsidies, but also for oil and gas.” – Elon Musk

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|2021-12-14T10:55:22-05:00December 19th, 2021|Comments Off on ZEV subsidies fail equity, economics, and environmental tests

Nevada lithium mine, key to “Green” energy, opposed by Greens

A proposed lithium mine on federal land in western Nevada may be brought low by – of all things -- buckwheat.

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|2021-09-27T21:17:12-04:00September 28th, 2021|Comments Off on Nevada lithium mine, key to “Green” energy, opposed by Greens

Big batteries could be bigger bombs than Beirut fertilizer

It turns out storing Megawatts of high density energy in a confined space is “like a bomb”. Who could have seen that coming, apart from everyone who understands what a megawatt is?

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|2021-07-15T08:19:56-04:00July 16th, 2021|Comments Off on Big batteries could be bigger bombs than Beirut fertilizer

Weakest link to EV growth is the material supply chain

There may not be enough minerals and metals in the world to build all the electric vehicles climate campaigners want to mandate and subsidize.

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|2021-02-14T15:31:14-05:00February 15th, 2021|Comments Off on Weakest link to EV growth is the material supply chain

California secretly struggles with renewables

California has hooked up a grid battery system that is almost ten times bigger than the previous world record holder, but when it comes to making renewables reliable it is so small it might as well not exist. The new battery array is rated at a storage capacity of 1,200 megawatt hours (MWh); easily eclipsing the record holding 129 MWh Australian system built by Tesla a few years ago. However, California peaks at a whopping 42,000 MW. If that happened on a hot, low wind night this supposedly big battery would keep the lights on for just 1.7 minutes (that's 103 [...]

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|2021-01-16T11:35:39-05:00January 16th, 2021|Comments Off on California secretly struggles with renewables

Scientists develop earth-friendly process to recycle lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries have their pluses. Their energy density is typically twice that of the tradition nickel-cadmium ones. They are low maintenance. And their discharge is less than half compared to regular batteries. Despite these advantages, however, they do have some environmental drawbacks. One is the fact that they use rare-earth metals like cobalt and nickel – metals that are not only expensive, but are often mined in developing countries with minimal environmental standards. For this reason, a number of firms have been transitioning over to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Not only don’t LFP’s not rely on rare-earths, but they also [...]

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|2020-11-19T09:23:00-05:00November 22nd, 2020|Comments Off on Scientists develop earth-friendly process to recycle lithium-ion batteries

ENERGYCAST: Can widespread battery storage be stable?

The large-scale battery storage folks make their case. Listen now.

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|2020-09-21T12:32:12-04:00September 20th, 2020|Comments Off on ENERGYCAST: Can widespread battery storage be stable?

Batteries not a sustainable backup for wind and solar — Part II: Safety, health & cost

We have all witnessed gigantic cost over runs on government projects, but overrunning the cost 8 fold may be a record. We are quite certain of our numbers.

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|2020-06-11T07:46:43-04:00June 12th, 2020|Comments Off on Batteries not a sustainable backup for wind and solar — Part II: Safety, health & cost

Batteries not a sustainable backup for wind and solar — Part I: Environmental Concerns

Batteries must be disposed of every few years, the tonnage of toxins will skyrocket, and so will the costs.

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|2020-06-03T09:26:38-04:00June 3rd, 2020|Comments Off on Batteries not a sustainable backup for wind and solar — Part I: Environmental Concerns

Move over Energizer Bunny! New batteries could come from viruses

A bioengineering professor from MIT, has developed a process that uses viruses to build the positive and negative electrodes of lithium-ion batteries.

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|2020-04-08T18:28:06-04:00April 9th, 2020|Comments Off on Move over Energizer Bunny! New batteries could come from viruses

Battery storage is an infinitesimal part of electrical power

Large-scale storage is only an insignificant part of the electrical power industry and doomed to remain so for decades to come. Intermittent wind and solar remain a foolish energy choice.

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|2019-06-30T16:31:10-04:00July 2nd, 2019|Comments Off on Battery storage is an infinitesimal part of electrical power
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