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Category Archives: Batteries
Utility scale energy storage limited by minerals and geography
Preface. Natural gas is finite, but aside from (pumped) hydropower, natural gas is the main way wind and solar are balanced now. Therefore, a tremendous amount of energy storage will be needed in the future as natural gas declines. The … Continue reading
Batteries are made of rare, declining, critical, and imported elements
Preface. Since oil and other fossils are finite and emit carbon, the plan is to electrify society with batteries. But doh! Minerals used in batteries are finite too. And dependent on fossil-fueled transportation and manufacturing from mining trucks, to smelter, … Continue reading
Posted in Batteries, Elements: Critical, Elements: Rare Earth, Mining
Tagged batteries, peak minerals
7 Comments
EV cars and utility scale energy storage batteries are not likely to materialize
Preface. Clearly there’s not enough minerals and metals to shift from fossil fuels to electric vehicles and utility scale battery storage, due to peak critical elements, peak platinum group elements, peak precious elements, peak rare earth elements, and peak everything … Continue reading
Posted in Automobiles, Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Peak Lithium
Tagged battery, EV, lithium, utility scale energy storage
13 Comments
Heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell trucks a waste of energy and money
Preface. There are 3 articles that I summarize below: ARB. November 2015. Medium- and heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles. Air Resources Board, California Environmental Protection Agency. NRC. 2003. Energy and Transportation: Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century. … Continue reading
Posted in Batteries, Electric Trucks, Electric trucks impossible, Hydrogen
Tagged electric truck, FCEV, FHCEV, fuel cell, hydrogen, truck
3 Comments
MIT: Why the electric-car revolution may take a lot longer than expected
Preface. This study from MIT explains why price parity of electric and gasoline vehicles is likely to take a lot longer than 5 years, and perhaps never if cars continue to depend on lithium-ion batteries. Deeper cost declines beyond 2030 … Continue reading
EV cars only go half as far in freezing weather
Preface. Below freezing, li-ion batteries don’t perform as well. Consumer reports found that about half the driving range was lost. Perhaps this is why nearly half of PHEV/BEV vehicles are sold in balmy California, while the half of the states … Continue reading
Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible
What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs … Continue reading
Can Zinc batteries save us?
Preface: The New York Times had two articles about zinc air batteries in September 2018. Right now, finite natural gas is the dominant way of balancing unreliable, outright missing, or intermittent power from wind and solar. So other energy storage … Continue reading
Posted in Batteries, Energy Storage, Lithium-ion
Tagged air, battery, lithium, reserves, zinc
1 Comment
Want to go off-grid? You might need hundreds of Tesla batteries
Preface. Although you may not be as far north as Victoria, British Columbia (48.4 latitude), you’d ideally want to be at 30 degrees or less latitude from the equator to even consider the expense of off-grid solar power. And even … Continue reading