Babbage: How to avoid a battery shortage

<p>In the coming decades, electric vehicles will dominate the roads and renewables will provide energy to homes. But for the green transition to be successful, unprecedented amounts of energy storage is needed. Batteries will be used everywhere—from powering electric vehicles, to providing electricity when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. The current generation of batteries are lacking in <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2023/08/23/superbatteries-will-transform-the-performance-of-evs?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">capacity</a> and are too reliant on <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/09/11/how-to-avoid-a-green-metals-crunch?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rare metals</a>, though. Many analysts worry about material shortages. How can technology help?&nbsp;</p><br><p>Host: Alok Jha, <em>The Economist</em>’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Paul Markillie, our innovation editor; Matthieu Favas, our finance correspondent; Anjani Trivedi, our global business correspondent.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Sign up for Economist Podcasts+ now and get 50% off your subscription with our <a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastsplus-babbage" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">limited time offer</a>.&nbsp;</p><br><p>If you’re already a subscriber to <em>The Economist</em>, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.&nbsp;</p><br><p>For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our <a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQs page</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube