🔋Better Batteries --> The Gray Area

A new era emerges - this newsletter is changing names to better encompass the wide ranging topics discussed!

Nov 22, 2023

Hello everyone, I have exciting news to share. Better Batteries is changing name to The Gray Area! This of course is a pun off my name, but also better aligns with my mission with writing and the content of the newsletter as a whole. While things like this always come as a surprise, I want to make clear that the content will not change and you can expect the same types of topics, format, and consistency going forward.

I naïvely started Better Batteries to try to share the knowledge I had learned through University and my work experience about the energy storage field. I quickly I realized my interests drifted more towards how various macroeconomic issues and the broader energy transition as opposed to focusing on batteries. Also, if you’re looking for in-depth insights on Li-ion batteries and a prime focus on that industry, the team over at Intercalation Station puts out top tier content that I couldn’t match even given my full time attention and I highly recommend their work. I also urge you to check out some of my other recommendations on my home page as some are mutual which helps both of us out and some are just random that I’ve found noteworthy over time.

I am making this change because I want the title to better encompass the purpose behind my writing. While the battery technologies, EVs, and metals mining markets remain at the forefront of my mind, readers know I veer far from these topics at times. The “Gray Area” in principle is where things are ambiguous, often unclear, and often in the murky middle of the popular ideologies. This is where I think the truth most often lies. So often in the news and in society people claim solutions are clear cut or “black or white” so to speak, and that is if they are even arguing about the root of the problems.

My goal is to highlight important insights that have been left of of the mainstream, challenge narratives, and uncover the root problems. I may not have the solutions to everything, but a lot of the time the implications of history, policy, economic theory, psychology, and technical know-hows I discuss mean we can prepare for certain outcomes that will likely play out in the future.

I am a one man show here and just passionate about these topics and try not to be biased in any direction. I will continue with weekly articles and if you find my articles useful I hope you will continue to support my research and writing going forward. I have even more confidence that this new brand will better characterize my work. I have a few exciting and perhaps eyebrow-raising articles in the works so keep a look out. Until next week under a different name,

-Grayson

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