Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future

To achieve fossil fuel independence, few technologies are more important  than batteries. Used for powering zero-emission vehicles, storing  electricity from solar panels and wind turbines, and revitalizing the  electric grid, batteries are essential to scaling up the renewable  energy resources that help address global warming. But given the unique  environmental impact of batteries―including mining, disposal, and  more―does a clean energy transition risk trading one set of problems for  another?

In Charged, James Morton Turner unpacks the history of  batteries to explore why solving "the battery problem" is critical to a  clean energy transition. As climate activists focus on what a clean  energy future will create―sustainability, resiliency, and climate  justice―the history of batteries offers a sharp reminder of what  building that future will consume: lithium, graphite, nickel, and other  specialized materials. With new insight on the consequences for people  and communities on the frontlines, Turner draws on the past for crucial  lessons that will help us build a just and clean energy future, from the  ground up.