Energy Storage, Resource Harvesting & High Value Recycling
The rapid innovations enabling the 100% renewable economy
[TL;DR The sustainable economy revolution does not have to be unethical]
Energy Storage
Batteries
The Problem With Cobalt
Fortunately, there are many alternatives to cobalt based batteries! We just have to scale these new technologies that may posses their own unique benefits.
Lithium Sulfur Batteries
Zinc-Bromine Batteries
Sodium Ion Batteries
Graphene-Aluminum Ion Batteries
Liquid Metal Batteries
Solid State Batteries
Silicon Anode Batteries
Structural Batteries
Tesla 4680 Cells
Hydro Reservoirs
Thermal Banks
Pumped Air
Hydrogen
Other Experimental
Global Resource Economy
Thankfully lithium and iron are very abundant resources on Earth’s crust.
Raw Resource Harvesting
Strip Mining
Unregulated Mining
Ecological Dilemma
We see that mining can have devastating ecological and socioeconomic effects, but there is hope in new innovations to ethically harvest resources: brine pool lithium extraction & agri-mining (higher ore extraction yield per weight).
It is also not too bad of a choice to mine where its already barren.
Nevertheless, in the long term we will see resource harvesting grow smaller as we enter a resource recycling fully sustainable economy. Some ores such as iron(steel), aluminum, and precious metals will likely remain in high demand. This is where asteroid mining could come into play, particularly when precious metals reserves diminish.
