Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

The Trump administration has taken aim at green energy, but one technology has largely been left untouched: batteries to store wind and solar electricity. California alone surpassed 13GW of battery storage last year, and Texas has become the fastest growing market for the technology. But producing batteries isn’t without its downsides, especially when it comes to mining the necessary raw materials. The upside is that those materials can be recycled and reused. If the recycling technology can reach scale and price targets, the environmental impact would drop significantly. And spent EV batteries could become a grid scale storage site even without breaking down the battery packs. How soon before renewables plus batteries can power our grid 24/7? This episode features a reported piece by Camila Domonoske that was originally broadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered on July 10, 2024  Guests:  Julian Spector, Senior Reporter, Canary Media David Klanecky, President, Cirba Solutions Sheila Davis, EV Battery Wast