Re: Not enough batteries for recycle to be a significant supply source.
Firstly, I think your emphasis should be on "AND", not "OR". The point is we cannot predict all the boottlenecks and problems that might come up along any one path, so to minimize risk, we can R&D along multiple paths in parallel. (Also, "green" methane gas can be shipped and doesn't lose it's charge, so batteries and "green gas" are not completely overlapping in their usage.).
Example of a problem - transportation only consumes about 1/3 of all our energy use. If vehicles are supplying that battery storage, they will be working hard. How much sooner will the batteries wear out? If they only last 2 years instead of 5, will it be worth it? Maybe (or maybe not) it would be more efficient to use dedicated battery stacks for the the grid, where every day X number of batteries are replaced quickly and efficiently.
Also, I wonder about the efficiency of home or workplace charge points in terms of energy loss (the cord heating up) vs an industrial setup.
Finally - the original topic is recycling batteries. My point is that if batteries are going to be used for cars and grid storage (even if mixed) , we are going to have to ramp up battery production by ~100x. That means that, if batteries last 5 years, then 5 years on there will only be 1/10 of the number of old batteries retiring compared to the number of new batteries being created. So it won't be until stead state is reached that those number will approach each other.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
