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We don't mine batteries from the ground. Misleading industry puff piece. The question isn't how much would it take but rather how much does it take. Petrochem
by Adaptive 15y ago
We don't mine batteries from the ground.
Misleading industry puff piece. The question isn't how much would it take but rather how much does it take.
Petrochemical / coal, fossil fuels in general are already generating our power at increasing cost in terms of the raw materials, processing (more difficult processing of oil sands, frakking, etc.)
Give me modern nuclear combined with alternatives like increasingly cheap solar.
Of course, at this moment the US government is mulling tariffs on chinese solar panels since they are too cheap. Evidently the free market is awesome except when it results in cheap products that threaten an established industry.
- earnubs 15y ago"We don't mine batteries from the ground" Er...
- tkahn6 15y agoWe don't mine lithium or nickel for its intrinsic energy.
- Adaptive 15y agoMaybe rephrase your question to be clearer, but I'm assuming you mean mining the chemical components of batteries. Not what I was referring to. I'm talking about the fundamental difference between a battery of any variety (chemical, flywheel, etc.) and petrochemical energy sources. The article compares energy density of gasoline and other energy sources with "electric". It's a poor comparison. These are different categories. One is an energy source which is also a storage medium (single use), the other is a pure storage medium.
- jules 15y agoActually, lithium is a very depletable resource just like oil and coal are. Not in the sense that we use it up for energy, but in the sense that if you want to run all cars on lithium batteries there simply isn't enough easily mine-able lithium in the world. In this sense it is valid to say that we mine batteries. The same story goes for most solar panels. Comparing the energy density of gasoline with the energy density of a charged battery is obviously also valid.
- tkahn6 15y ago> Evidently the free market is awesome except when it results in cheap products that threaten an established industry. China actively and heavily subsidizes its solar industry. That is hardly the result of a free market.
- Adaptive 15y agoI agree and instead of tariffs I'd rather see the US put some money behind domestic solar. I don't want subsidized goods to kill the domestic mfgrs, but I'd love to see us combine our technical innovations in solar with a full court press to get the industry off the ground. I'd say the same for modern nuclear.