Last night President-elect Joe Biden announced his Build Back Better Recovery Plan, which outlines historic investment in Research & Development in markets “where global leadership is up for grabs,” including “battery technology … and clean energy.”
“The lead battery industry, with its strong domestic supply chain, is ideally positioned to rapidly deliver on the President-elect’s promise to have American jobs support the nation’s post-Covid economic recovery, and also to ensure America’s global leadership on technological innovation and a green economy infrastructure,” said Roger Miksad, Battery Council International executive vice president and general counsel.
Lead batteries will be the dominant rechargeable battery technology for the foreseeable future, are the most recycled consumer product in the nation, and are the global leader in a variety of green applications from well-known automotive uses supporting clean mobility in low-carbon start-stop and micro-hybrid vehicles to the growing utility and renewable energy storage markets which are ushering in a global energy transition.
The U.S. lead battery industry invested $100 million in R&D in 2019 and, through agreements with the U.S. National Laboratories system, is actively pursuing next-gen battery technology and energy storage to meet the needs of a market that is expected to grow from 360 GWh in 2020 to 430 GWh in 2030. U.S companies will be developed these battery innovations and will be built by U.S. workers in communities across the nation.
