Archive:000/The great battery challenge

So we need a lot of batteries for energy storage. It has to be done in a way that...

• doesn't require too many rare minerals
• doesn't require too much energy to produce and later recycle(...)( This implies an additional requirement: Recyclability )
• doesn't require too much labor

These doesn't need to be a "one size fits all" solution. Clearly different battery tech is good for different applications. But as a simple viability test, we need to imagine what would happen if the battery tech was scaled up to meet most of the would-be demand for energy storage in a green-energy solution.

Scale used: The amount of energy storage that would be needed if all vehicles were electric. See whyIt's a compromise between two considerations:
- We're going to need more than just vehicle batteries if solar and wind are main power sources; we'd also need on-grid energy storage. But,
- Battery tech won't be one-size-fits-all; it's possible there's a mix of battery tech (each with different mineral profiles) that could together meet 100% of all potential demand (full green energy scenario), even when no individual battery tech (within the mix) could meet the 100% on its own (limited by mineral reserves).. (calculation loading)

For each mineral, divide its global reserves by the energy storage amount above. This gives you a reasonable limit (in grams per kWh).

Energy and labor

For simplicity sake (and due to lack of data), we just have to assume (for now) that any tech that stays within mineral limits won't need an outrageous amount of energy/labor to produce. Manufacturing & recycling probably doesn't vary quite as much as mining does (the energy & labor of mining depends heavily on which mineral is being mined, how rare it is).

This page is incomplete - it needs calculations and data.