🔋2022 In Review

Highlighting some of my articles from the year.

Its been 11 months since I started the Better Batteries newsletter; short version is I’ve written 48 articles, gained ~300 subscribers, and learned a whole lot!

I’m taking next week off for the holidays to spend time with friends and family, but also work on the newsletter behind the scenes, more to come (back January 4th). Here’s a highlight of a few of my articles as well as some “awards” to some of my pieces. You can always check out any of my past articles via the archive too.

Top Article

Diamond In The Rough pt. 2 - Both types of graphite production (synthetic and natural) as they stand are in direct contradiction to the mission of electric vehicles.

Tied for my most liked article, it was given some love on LinkedIn, and garnished a liking that had yet to been seen on Better Batteries at the time! It sits tied in first place for likes with my latest piece, Doctor Copper.

I discuss the process for making synthetic and natural graphite and concluded the irony that neither process is environmentally friendly, especially synthetic.

Underrated Article

Pack A Punch - Comparing the energy density of different fuels, storage, and conversion methods

This article discusses the energy density of various energy sources from nuclear, coal, natural gas, wood, wind, solar, and hydroelectric. The reality is that renewables are the least energy dense and this would be the first time in history that we would go through an energy transition to lower density energy sources.

I actually did the math and made the figure myself which took a considerable amount of time and research. This involved some rough estimates such that I could compare the different energy sources. No assumptions are perfect, but it is good enough for comparisons sake.

Capacity factor is a renewables issue that has to be solved with energy storage like batteries, adding costs. Other metrics like levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and energy return on energy invested (EROEI) were not discussed, but could be topics for future discussion.

In the Call of Duty games, there is a zombies mode where you can pack a punch weapons and make them significantly more powerful, which is where the inspiration came for the article. Only if we could pack a punch wind and solar…

Personal Favorite

Crude Awakening Pt. 1-3 - Origin, cause, and conclusion of the 1973 oil crisis - paving the way to analyze the consequences at the time and implications for today's energy issues.

This three part series that went over the 1973 oil crisis, how governments and people responded, connections/differences to today, and implications that we can keep in mind and use moving forward.

This was my favorite topic to research and write about. The famous saying, history never repeats, but it often rhymes rings true. We can learn a lot from history and would be wise not to repeat our mistakes.

Highlights

I’ve covered a broad range of topics in 2022, here are some of them!

1. Battery Materials

   1. Diamond In The Rough pt. 1 and 2 - graphite

   2. The New Gold - lithium

   3. Doctor Copper - copper

2. Geopolitics

   1. That’s Mine - Canada/US trade war with China

   2. Not Your Average Dollar - petrodollar system holding on by a string

3. Energy Markets

   1. Pack A Punch - energy density is a very important metric

   2. Crude Awakening Pt. 1, 2, and 3 - 1973 oil crisis implications today

4. Philosophy

   1. Marshmallow Size Elephant In The Room - personality traits predict climate and political beliefs

   2. The Wealth Of Nations - how climate change is a first world problem

5. Government Policy

   1. Between A Rock And A Hard Place - defense production act for battery materials

   2. Inflation Reduction Act pt. 1 and 2 - consequences

6. European Energy Crisis

   1. C’est La Vie - issues in France should not be blamed on nuclear energy

   2. This Is Fine. - Germany is not out of the woods yet

7. ESG

   1. The Real Climate Catastrophe pt. 1, 2, and 3 - current ESG model is a product of short term thinking and a dangerous path forward

   2. Tesla ESG Debacle - ESG motives are revealed, but Musk has issues of his own

8. Battery Technology

   1. Ultimate Battery Guide - basics about Li-ion batteries

   2. No More Liquids - solid state batteries

   3. Going With The Flow - flow batteries

   4. Put Your Trust In The Rust - metal-air batteries

   5. Why So Salty - sodium-ion batteries

9. Electric Vehicles

   1. EVs - Enormous Ventures - summary of EV targets of top car manufacturers

   2. Shooting For The Moon, Not Landing With The Stars... - PHEVs are the move

10. Economics

    1. Proof Of Energy - Bitcoin isn’t bad for the climate nor consume “too much” energy

    2. No Rescue, EU - ECB adds fuel to the fire for Europe

I’ll see you January 4th, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and here’s to 2023!

-Grayson

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Grayson Hoteling @GraysonHoteling

NA built cars still get the credit through q1 https://t.co/uxrfj4pTJU

Whole Mars Catalog @WholeMarsBlog

Wow. Breaking news on the EV tax credit. The treasury says they won’t issue guidance on the critical materials and battery components requirements until March. Until the Treausry issues guidance, those restrictions on the tax credit don’t take effect.

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