Sodium-ion batteries have been overshadowed by lithium-ion for decades, but there's a thousand times more sodium in the earth's crust than there is lithium. ...

This shit could be so big. And if China gets the jump on US on new energy storage tech, the economic race over the next decade might not even be close.

  • nohaybanda [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    He's covered it before, I believe. I don't think it's glossing over it so much as an expectation that his audience is well aware by now how fucked our current dependence on lithium and rare-earth minerals is.

    • ImSoOCD [they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Guess I need to watch more. I had no idea it was that dire

      • nohaybanda [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I can't recall exact figures, but I believe that lithium wasn't even the main bottleneck -- cobalt was. It's why anyone who was aware of global mineral resources knew years ago that this whole electric vehicle / renewable energy paradigm was pretty much wishful thinking without a new battery tech emerging sometime soon. Everyone kinda just crossed their fingers and hoped it would work out.