Everyone’s Favorite Climate Solution Has a Fire Problem
The path away from fossil-fuel power means more giant batteries—and more risk of dangerous fires.
A firefighter unfurls a hose in front of the burnt-out ruins of a factory for lithium-ion batteries in Oelbronn-Duerrn, Germany on March 9, 2018.
Photographer: Uwe Anspach/Picture Alliance via Getty ImagesThe explosion ruptured the dusk settling over the desert in Surprise, Arizona. For hours, smoke had poured from a metal shed packed with lithium-ion batteries at a small electric substation. The batteries were tied to the electric grid, and somehow they had caught fire.
Firefighters searching for the source of the smoke opened the shed door, and minutes later gases seeping from damaged batteries caused the explosion. Body-camera footage from the scene showed a firefighter dazed and breathing heavily as blood ran down his forehead. Two of the four people injured had to be airlifted to a hospital.