ALEX KOYFMAN / NOV 15, 2022
Lithium Hysteria Spreads Across the U.S.
Google searches for “lithium fire” have increased by a factor of 12 over the course of the last two weeks.
The reason, which I covered in more depth in last week’s Wealth Daily, is a NYC high-rise fire that left 46 residents and firefighters injured on the morning of November 5.
The culprit was a malfunctioning electric scooter battery.
It was the 189th such fire in the city for the year and was severe enough to prompt the New York City Council to convene an emergency meeting for the proposal of new laws regulating the sale and recycling of lithium batteries.
The hysteria, however, didn’t end at NYC limits.
Before the week was over, the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau issued a statement to the public in hopes of quelling growing concerns over the safety of lithium batteries.
“There’s no industry-wide mechanism for tracking the cause of lithium-ion or battery-related fires. That’s something the U.S. Fire Administrator is working diligently for the nation to track this and other hazards,” said Assistant Fire Chief Brian Kokkila in an interview with CBS News last Thursday.
This “alarming trend,” is becoming a major concern for both citizens and agencies as our dependence on lithium batteries expands… but it’s hardly the only issue when it comes to rechargeable batteries.
Slow to charge, quick to degrade, and very costly, environmentally taxing, and politically troublesome to source, the lithium revolution has caused almost as many problems as it solves.
Yet our addiction to the convenience of rechargeable energy storage gets stronger every year.
Justplainbill's Weblog 
Lithium Hysteria, by Alex Koyfman
ALEX KOYFMAN / NOV 15, 2022
Lithium Hysteria Spreads Across the U.S.
Google searches for “lithium fire” have increased by a factor of 12 over the course of the last two weeks.
The reason, which I covered in more depth in last week’s Wealth Daily, is a NYC high-rise fire that left 46 residents and firefighters injured on the morning of November 5.
The culprit was a malfunctioning electric scooter battery.
It was the 189th such fire in the city for the year and was severe enough to prompt the New York City Council to convene an emergency meeting for the proposal of new laws regulating the sale and recycling of lithium batteries.
The hysteria, however, didn’t end at NYC limits.
Before the week was over, the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau issued a statement to the public in hopes of quelling growing concerns over the safety of lithium batteries.
“There’s no industry-wide mechanism for tracking the cause of lithium-ion or battery-related fires. That’s something the U.S. Fire Administrator is working diligently for the nation to track this and other hazards,” said Assistant Fire Chief Brian Kokkila in an interview with CBS News last Thursday.
This “alarming trend,” is becoming a major concern for both citizens and agencies as our dependence on lithium batteries expands… but it’s hardly the only issue when it comes to rechargeable batteries.
Slow to charge, quick to degrade, and very costly, environmentally taxing, and politically troublesome to source, the lithium revolution has caused almost as many problems as it solves.
Yet our addiction to the convenience of rechargeable energy storage gets stronger every year.
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