Winner of the 24th Annual Susanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize Finalist for the 2023 Cundill History Prize Gold Medal Recipient, Nautilus Book Awards, Sustainability The dirty work essential to a clean energy transition To achieve fossil fuel independence, few technologies are more important than batteries. Used for powering zero-emission vehicles, storing electricity from solar panels and wind turbines, and revitalizing the electric grid, batteries are essential to scaling up the renewable energy resources that help address global warming. But given the unique environmental impact of batteries—including mining, disposal, and more—does a clean energy transition risk trading one set of problems for another? In Charged, James Morton Turner unpacks the history of batteries to explore why solving the battery problem is critical to a clean energy transition. As climate activists focus on what a clean energy future will create—sustainability, resiliency, and climate justice—the...

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