First Take: No Solar Sell-Off, Should We Fear 'Lithium Dictators?' and More...
<p>Why solar companies don't want to be bought up, the economic dangers of relying on lithium in electric vehicles, and what the end of Google's PowerMeter means in the U.K. (not much) are what we're reading this morning.</p> <p> <meta charset="utf-8" /></p>
Not For Sale: The entrepreneurial spirit behind solar company start-ups is hampering efforts by utilities and corporations to buy up successful solar companies, Reuters' Christoph Steitz reports. With strong, growing demand for solar, leading companies, particularly the German ones focused on in the article, have little incentive to sell.
The Dawn of the Electric Dictator: One of the touted benefits of electric vehicles is they can reduce the U.S.'s need for foreign oil, but as Greg Lindsay explains in a Fast Company article, they could also lead to the rise of "lithium dicatators" and struggles for access to lithium in places like Bolivia, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. "The lithium at the heart of the (Chevrolet) Volt’s battery is now the gold standard for new electric cars everywhere. But is there enough of the silvery soft metal to eventually power a billion automobiles, and can we mine it fast enough?" Lindsay writes.
More Power: While on the topic of electric vehicles, work by Sumitomo Electric Industries of Japan promises to increase lithium-ion battery capacity by 1.5-3 times, reports EcoFriend. That's possible, the company says, with the use of its new Aluminum-Celmet, aluminum that is porous and mesh-like, providing more active material in batteries' current collectors.
Google Not Feeling Lucky: Google's decision to retire its PowerMeter home energy management product won't affect users in the U.K., since the two companies that had partnered with Google there have other ways to show people their home energy data, reports BusinessGreen's James Murray. But what Google's exit means for the overall market is less clear, as our own Tilde Herrera reported on the slew of companies in the home energy management space and other actions building steady momentum for the market.
Dangers in the Rare Earth Rush: The construction of a Malaysian refinery for rare earth metals, used in phones, hybrid cars and other products, is the first to be built outside of China in decades and could open up access to rare earth metals and bring prices down. But the refinery has been met with protesters concerned the plant will leak radioactive and toxic materials, and engineers have released documents showing problems and concerns like cracks and leaks in many containment tanks' shells, and the use of lower-grade steel and concrete, reports The New York Times' Keith Bradsher.
Solar panels in Friburg, Germany, image CC-licensed by daveeza/Flickr