The battery bubble

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Abstract

The global push for electrification has placed battery technology at the forefront of climate solutions, but this almost singular focus is creating a precarious economic and environmental bubble. This article presents a multidimensional analysis–encompassing economic, scientific, and anthropological perspectives–of the impending battery industry crisis. We examine the rise of a “battery bubble” driven by the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, using Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT) to highlight how a narrow technological focus can backfire. Nickel, a critical metal for batteries, is explored as the first casualty of this bubble. Soaring demand for it and price volatility have led to severe environmental degradation and market instability. Drawing parallels to historical manias such as Tulip Fever and the Dot-com bubble, we discuss how hype and herd behavior inflate expectations of battery dominance, risking “immiserizing growth”–an economic expansion that paradoxically worsens social, economic, and environmental well-being. Finally, we propose a pathway to escape the battery bubble through a shift to an eco-surplus culture underpinned by the “semiconducting” principle of environmental-economic value exchange. This approach calls for reorienting our value system to prevent solving one environmental problem at the cost of exacerbating others. The analysis underscores the urgency of recalibrating climate strategies before the battery bubble busts, with potentially cascading consequences for global stability.

Publication Title

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

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