In the sustainable age, how can batteries be safer? A company opening its HQ in California says it has the answer

In Moss Landing, California, more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate in January when one of the largest storage facilities for lithium-ion batteries in the world caught fire. Days later, the toxic metals nickel, cobalt and manganese were found at nearby Elkhorn Slough in unusually high concentrations. One county supervisor called it a “wake-up call” for battery safety in the ongoing push for sustainable energy. Local residents sued several companies involved with the batteries and their storage, claiming negligence and that the lithium-ion batteries being stored there were “prone to thermal instability.”

Though the federal government deems lithium-ion batteries “generally safe,” law enforcement agencies periodically remind the public of their risks, such as fires and explosions. Bu