Images from the techno-sphere

While I finish a report about a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Moss Landing, California and a proposed one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I’ve got images to share.

In his recent substack, “The Cost of a Battery,” Max Wilbert posted Frank Forencich’s Spring, 2021 photograph of Thacker Pass, Nevada—and an “after mining” image that Forencich created with photoshop. With images like these, how can anyone call battery-dependent power systems or devices “clean,” “green,” “renewable” or “sustainable?”

Then, check out this video about lithium-ion battery fires, which have become increasingly common in airplanes. Planes usually carry fire containment bags and fire extinguishers—but should airlines ban devices with lithium-ion batteries? What would make traveling with batteries safer?

Central Ohio farmland has gone to data centers. When my husband first looked at the second image in this story, he thought I was showing him a burned-out LA neighborhood.

Last, a way to respond to our thriving technosphere: ban scrolling in public.

Buy me a montly cup of tea—and help keep this substack rolling!