“This is a worldwide epidemic,” Goreham told Sky News Australia. “It’s a lithium fire epidemic.”
Last year, Goreham wrote an article which was published by The Wall Street Journal as an opinion piece. Titled ‘If Green Energy Is the Future, Bring a Fire Extinguisher’, the article describes how instead of making the world safer, lithium batteries keep bursting into flames.
In his article, Gorham explained that the increasing adoption of “green” energy has led to a rise in lithium battery fires, which are breaking out in various locations, including highways, factories, home garages and storage rooms.
The high energy density of lithium batteries makes them prone to catching fire and burning with high heat, and in some cases, even exploding, which is why airlines prohibit them in checked baggage.
A battery factory fire in Hwaseong, South Korea, last year killed 22 workers, with experts estimating that most were killed by toxic gases emitted by the burning batteries.
Scotland experienced two major fires in battery recycling centres last year, one in Kilwinning and the other near Glasgow. The Kilwinning fire burned for several days with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service urging nearby residents to remain indoors with windows closed due to the hazardous conditions. With the Glasgow fire, witnesses reported explosions, noises like gunshots, “steel flying everywhere” and a huge plume of black smoke. Ten fire trucks were needed and the blaze lasted four days.
E-bike battery fires have become a serious problem in New York City and are the leading cause of fire, causing 270 blazes last year and killing 18 people, with similar issues reported in Australia, Canada and other nations.
The introduction of electric cars has led to a massive increase in battery size and potential destructiveness, with a recent Tesla semi-truck crash in California requiring 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames.
Automakers have recalled millions of electric vehicles (“EVs”) due to battery-fire problems, with some EVs prone to self-ignition banned from parking lots in China, South Korea and the US....<<<Read More>>>...