Think about a cascade of water flowing down a stream, as it follows a series of rocks or boulders in its path. Every step absorbs some of the river’s restless energy. At the bottom of the cascade the flow of the water may be slower, but it is still there. Cascading batteries allows them to follow a series of stages, as their energy capacity fades.
Recycling What We Have Including Cascading Batteries
Finding new uses for old things is not a fresh idea, although it became less common. In olden times people used old newspapers to line pantry shelves, and stuff them into wet shoes to dry them out. But those practices and others fell away, in the throwaway society that crept up on us in the past couple decades.
Nowadays we are recovering some of this creative thinking, as we sort the household garbage into smaller containers for recycling. If we have a vegetable garden, we might even fertilize it with peelings from the kitchen. Cascading batteries is another application of the same idea.
The drive to re-use things for other purposes is becoming more socially significant. We are learning how earth’s resources are limited, and how industry pumps pollution into our atmosphere. This truth bites hard, as we ponder over the environment we are creating for future generations.
New Purposes for Spent Electric Vehicle Batteries
Our forebears were adept at finding new uses for old possessions, instead of discarding them. Although we could argue that their technology was simpler back then, and this was easier for them to do.
Batteries are more complex, because they contain chemicals and are difficult to recycle. Cascading batteries is simpler and easier to do, especially while we wait for recycling technology to catch up.
Next time you need a new source for your household power back-up, consider a spent electric vehicle battery module. It should have more than adequate capacity, and could be the beginning of a socially responsible cascade.
More Information
New Battery Recycling Standard in China
Spent EV Batteries Get New Purpose in U.S.
