Ignore the fact that Tesla are involved. I’m quite excited for this era of energy storage that we’re entering.
I’m not sure if any of you are/were anime fans, but do you Vash Stampede and Trigun? There were a bunch of giant sand batteries in there, that always stuck in my head.
Obviously, things didn’t work out great for them, but a clean future requires clean storage and clean generation and the first step is storage for everyone.
Great for batteries, and yes - trying my best to ignore Tesla, et al.
And for folks looking for home systems, EG4 is killing it with their hybrid systems. A couple big wires and it’s done! Not affiliated in any way, but check out this ~$3400 14.3kWh plug-and-play battery. Noice!
You were right to mention
Ignore the fact that Tesla are involved.
I have to admit it’s very hard for me to do so. It’s a company that tries to portrait itself like it cares about the environment. This collaboration is clearly towards this direction.
On the other hand we have this article (and many more):
Tesla wants net-zero emissions, but its pollution grew in 2023
In 2023, Tesla was responsible for more than 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions compared to just under 42 million metric tons the year prior, a roughly 20 percent increase in pollution. Most of the additional pollution comes from Tesla’s supply chain.
So the conclusion for me is that I cannot see this collaboration out of context. It’s one more company expanding, instead of focusing on the sustainability of their existing processes.
We know damn well, we have all the scientific solutions needed to invert climate change but big corporations like Telsa, care only for their public image and their (stockholders’) profit. Nothing else. And these big corporations are actively lobbying and funding politicians to enforce legislation in their benefit. No wonder we don’t see the political will to implement those solutions.
I hear you but I feel you’re being unfair and yet I can’t articulate how. Obviously Tesla are culpable for whom they purchase from, but we need governments to lay the foundation to make clean profitable. To put that in grocery terms, companies that make (sell) proprietary GMO products should pay more in tax than analogous organic products.
Edit: really good post BTW. I appreciate the effort that went into it.
…and yet I can’t articulate how.
It looks like we’re on the same boat! Btw, I’m in this community because I like conversations in good faith and it looks like people participating here have these tendencies. In a way I need these interactions to expand the way I think, in order to hopefully participate in practical solutions.
we need governments to lay the foundation to make clean profitable
It seems to me this is what Big Money wants us to believe. This is the narrative of neolibelism. I think governments need to lay the foundation for companies to become sustainable, not profitable.
But I don’t know how this systemic change can take place, since Big Money have abducted governments worldwide. I’m not suggesting not to vote in elections. Just saying that voting doesn’t seem to put in power politicians that work for the people.
And your edit was so sweet, I can’t get over it. Thank you.
I actually agree with you. But, take a step back and join me in my utopia dreamland, where politicians are accountable to their constituents. I think in that world, governments absolutely have a responsibility to pass legislation that benefits everyone in the long-term, but just corporations.
I’m not suggesting that we as individuals and certainly not corporations are absolved of responsibility, but I am saying that just like tax loopholes, while there’s room for people to not do the right thing, they absolutely will go for the cheapest wrong thing they can find.
In the past, “accountability” also involved pitchforks and torches, and then a long time in the stocks for the guilty party.
Ah, the good old days.
