The US is losing the high-stakes global battery war

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The US is losing the high-stakes global battery war

"Though we rarely give them much thought, batteries — specifically lithium-ion batteries — enable modern life. They run our smartphones, yes, but they also power our Bluetooth speakers, toothbrushes, satellites, and pacemakers. In Australia, a partnership with Tesla will equip 50,000 homes with solar panels and battery packs, transforming them into a single “virtual power plant” capable of storing 250MW. Increasingly, batteries move us: from electric cars to pedal-assist bikes, scooters, trains, planes, and even boats. By 2025, it’s estimated that lithium-ion batteries will become a $94 billion global market."

August 14, 2018 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Six weeks to More Night then Day 🌌. Clouds, rather damp and 71 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 68 degrees. No rain but definitely a threat, although you can see the sun peak out occasionally. I brought my umbrella and rain coat so I’m prepared unlike yesterday. Ensures it will not rain. The skies will clear tomorrow around 8 am.

I expect today to be a relatively busy day, as there is just a lot going on at work today. But busy days today lead to bigger rewards tomorrow. Things will get done and I’m hoping to leave around five again tonight but I’ll play it day by day. Tonight though, I probably won’t go to the library after work. 📚 Maybe it will be nice enough to go on my evening walk.

Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 11am. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 79 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1988.

The sun will set at 7:57 pm with dusk around 8:28 pm, which is one minute and 28 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁ and thunderstorms ⚡ and 79 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 55 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 32 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am, then a chance of showers. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a low of 66 degrees at 5am. Six degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 6pm. Light west wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had partly cloudy skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 64 degrees. The record low of 48 occurred back in 1964.

Back in 1962, Two gunmen hijacked a mail truck 📩in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and made off with $1.5 million.💰 That really is quite the story involving a fake road block and hijacker dressed up as road construction personnel.🚧 Not to mention, $1.5 million was a lot more back in the day when the minimum wage was below a dollar an hour.🚛 I’ll have to post it later on.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until More Night then Day 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 6:46 pm with dusk at 7:14 pm. On that day in 2017, we had shallow fog, patches of fog, mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 91 and 64 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 68 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 2017.