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The unstoppable rise of batteries is leading to a domino effect that puts half of global fossil fuel demand at risk (rmi.org)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The unstoppable rise of batteries is leading to a domino effect that puts half of global fossil fuel demand at risk::The unstoppable rise of batteries is leading to a domino effect that puts half of global fossil fuel demand at risk.

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[+] [email protected] -14 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (22 children)

Eh...

Batteries take "rare earth metals" like cobalt.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588

There's an environmental cost, and a huge cost on a personal level to the people who mine it.

It's like if your house is burning down, but then a flood comes and puts out the fire.

Sure, the fire is out, but now your house is underwater. We're just switching one problem for another, not really solving anything

Edit:

Not sure why so many people think this comment is pro fossil fuels...

But I'm not going to repeatedly explain the very basic concept that with two bad things, one is sometimes less bad.

I really really thought people would already know that...

[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

Current Li-ion batteries have numerous issues, but fortunately there are several alternatives too. Bringing a new battery chemistry to production scale hasn’t been easy, but we’re taking small steps like that every year.

We may still need lithium, nickel or manganese in the near future, but the demand for cobalt (per cell) has been decreasing gradually. Who knows which alternative ends up dominating the market after a few decades

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Eventually I hope we end up with sodium batteries.

But that's probably a long way off still

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Sodium batteries would be a welcome change. Solid state batteries are another interesting technology that looks promising.

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