Redwood materials recently announced that after a year long pilot program, it was able to recover important metals from used batteries at a rate of more than 95 percent. So how does this work? In 2011 I bought a Nissan Leaf, very early EV with a range of kind of around 100 miles. It went down 2016 or so, time to actually gave it away to a public radio station because I didn't know what to do with it. The batteries today might be economically 95 percent but technically they're 99 or more percent reusable.
Batteries are a critical part of the transition away from fossil fuels. From electric vehicles to grid scale storage for wind and solar, demand for batteries is expected to grow 500% by 2030. In order to meet that demand, we’re going to need a lot more batteries. And while companies like JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials are building capacity for recycling, for now that means a lot more mining. How do we build a battery supply chain that meets demand and reduces harm?
This episode is underwritten by ClimateWorks.
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