Climate Point: Inside the race to recycle lithium batteries

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I'm William Ramsey, based in the Shenandoah Valley.

You've been seeing a cascade of effects already from the Biden administration's concerted push for a clean energy economy.

One related wrinkle that we went down a rabbit hole reading about this week is the American project for sustainable domestic production of batteries that power electric vehicles and other everyday devices and applications.

There was an announcement out of Rochester, New York, that sparked our interest: a government loan for a company setting up its battery processing center at the site of what was once the largest photographic manufacturing facility in the world — Eastman Business Park. Kodak history, for those who remember it.

The firm, Li-Cycle out of Toronto, is using the Rochester hub and a boost from the Department of Energy to recycle batteries, including those from EV manufacturing. Its goal: Become the first supplier of battery-grade recycled lithium in North America.

Democrat & Chronicle reporter Robert Bell explains why that's important.

• The increase in EV production means 12 million tons of lithium-ion batteries will likely expire between now and 2030.
• America, led by the Biden administration, is on a mission to limit reliance on foreign production of lithium-ion batteries, mainly from China.
• Li-Cycle has engineered a recycling process that avoids the fluorine emissions produced by burning the battery materials. Others also are racing ahead in this space. Look for innovation and activity spiking in the next 2-3 years in this business sector.

In other news, we noticed stories about Jimmy Carter, an ugly stork and a welcome environmental success ...

"The president from Plains, Georgia, who at age 98 recently entered hospice care, is known for a lot of things: his love of his hometown, his penchant for hammering away with Habitat for Humanity, and peanuts," writes Marisa Mecke for The Savannah Morning News. "But hand-in-hand with his ever-growing list of presidential, naval and civilian accomplishments is his legacy as a staunch conservationist who helped shape some of Georgia's most important natural spaces as well as its nascent renewable technology industry."

It's striking to think about how Carter was ridiculed for his push for solar energy, which some people considered a "hippie thing."

FUN FACT: Since 2017, the Carter Family's land in Plains has housed more than 3,800 solar panels. They produce enough electricity for about half of the town.

In other news, thanks to the federal Endangered Species Act, the wood stork has recently reached a big milestone, reports Dinah Pulver with Paste BN. 

The gangly wood stork, with its long legs, bald head and a wingspan of more than 5 feet, has been proposed for removal from the list of protected species under the act. The restoration of wetlands has helped the bird's population rebuild. But conservationists do have concerns about it possibly being de-listed.

Staying with the nature theme, where can you hear some of nature's loudest insects and revel in a vibrant stretch of river that might provide a rare glimpse of javelinas, gray foxes or coyote?

Actually, near Phoenix along the middle section of Arizona’s Verde River.

Joan Meiners writes beautifully about how it's a conservation success story. "While the American Southwest struggles against the death grip of a megadrought, lackluster water conservation efforts, a growing population and unproductive negotiations over how to divide up shrinking shares of the Colorado River, the Verde — with its boisterous cicadas, active wildlife and lush vegetation — stands out as a climate change survivor."

Worth a read.

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