Comment on U.S. solar will pass wind in 2025 and leave coal in the dust soon after

• Mihies@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I think you are wrong then. First, even Li-ion batteries are recyclable to a huge amount, usually the problem is that different manufacturers pack them differently without any blueprint and then it’s much harder to recycle them. Then there are a ton of different chemistries with ones really harmless (i.e. using sodium instead of lithium) but they come with less energy density. Which isn’t that important when it comes to energy storage for the network purpose but it’s important when it comes to cars and portable electronic devices. Also different chemistries have different lifetime, i.e. LFP batteries have better durability and are less fire prone than the standard li-ion.

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  • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Being “recyclable” doesn’t mean that they get recycled, because it’s often not economically feasible - like with solar panels. Are there lots and lots of recyclable materials in them? Absolutely. Does it cost more to extract them out than it does to buy a new one? Absolutely.

    Most batteries, especially those used for home batteries, will never be recycled.

    Also the materials used to make new batteries are not renewable. There are finite resources of them. They require mining. Mining equipment and trucks aren’t running on solar or batteries.

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    • Mihies@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      You have some valid points. Yes, economical aspect is crap, countries should push laws demanding that producers guarantee recycling and/or state clear lifecycle of the battery (actually it should be applied to all products). Even still, there are companies that do recycle batteries for profit, so it’s not that absurd. But you miss the whole other aspect with different chemistries, many even harmless to the environment. You are focused only on current li-ion it seems which are not very network storage friendly anyway.

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      • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I’m focused on current battery tech because that’s what we have. There is no grid storage level battery tech yet - entire countries are basing their economic livelihood on the promise that there will be soon. It’s looking like a bad bet. We still can’t make phones that last a week.

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