Moss Landing researchers release findings on heavy metals from battery fire.

[hunter]

The scientists at Moss Landing Marine Labs were not well-versed in studying batteries, nor how they break down in soils or estuarine wetlands. But after a lithium-ion battery fire erupted on Jan. 16 at the world’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) – only a mile from the Moss Landing facility, evacuating 1,200 residents and sending smoke and ash across swaths of North County – researchers got to work collecting samples three days after the fire to assess concentrations of heavy metals deposited from the plume.

Lead researcher Ivano Aiello presented the results, published in Scientific Reports on Nov. 26, at Moss Landing Marine Labs on Tuesday, Dec. 2. “I knew very little about batteries about 10 months ago,” he told an audience of colleagues and community members.

The study, conducted by Aiello and seven other researchers alongside a list of collaborators, provides a snapshot of how manganese, nickel and cobalt were dispersed among soil sediments in several areas of Hester Marsh in Elkhorn Slough. The team found initially high concentrations of these metals following the fire. It was found in patches, with levels that declined rapidly over three months due to precipitation and tidal inundation. In other words, if they hadn’t sampled quickly, and sampled in large amounts, they could have missed finding the battery metal fallout across the landscape.

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https://www.montereycountynow.com/news/local_news/moss-landing-researchers-release-findings-on-heavy-metals-from-battery-fire/article_e7ba2590-7c6d-4284-b429-f0e253b57ff1.html

These batteries mostly bridge the gap starting an hour or two before sunset and gas power plants picking up the load. Batteries also pick up some of the load in the morning, starting an hour or two before sunrise.

The electricity going into these batteries is inexpensive, the electricity coming out of them is not. We pay extra for electricity between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM. That's on top of having some of the most expensive electricity in the "developed" world.

Hybrid gas / solar / wind electricity is not cheap and its not going to save the world.

You can watch the state's batteries charging and discharging here:

https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply#section-supply-trend

That's some of the technical background, describing the purpose of these batteries.

Now I'll get on my soapbox.

If this had been a nuclear power plant releasing radioactive materials of similar overall toxicity we'd be hearing about it for many years, all around the world. Because it's familiar toxins that have a half life of forever it's only of long-term concern locally.

And hardly anyone at all seems seriously concerned about the fossil fuel wastes that will ultimately destroy whatever is left of the natural environment as we have known it.