Privatizing the US national helium reserve. Gonna laugh when in a few years the government of another nation ends up owning it. Helium is dwindling finite resource that key technological infrastructure relies upon.

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[–] RyanGosling@hexbear.net 72 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Gonna laugh when in a few years the government of another nation ends up owning it.

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1114964240/new-battery-technology-china-vanadium

A bunch of scrappy engineers made a next generation battery and sold the technology to the US government

The government never bothered to manufacture anything. Instead they sold everything to China and now they’re already releasing public versions of the batteries. Now the US doesn’t have any knowledge on the batteries or even the factories to build them

[–] tripartitegraph@hexbear.net 39 points 2 years ago (1 children)

the US doesn’t have any knowledge on the batteries or even the factories to build them

hilariously based

[–] Assian_Candor@hexbear.net 31 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The story is a trip

Every dumb and evil thing in amerikkka can ultimately be traced back to capitalist greed

[–] Collatz_problem@hexbear.net 7 points 2 years ago

Every dumb and evil thing in ~~amerikkka~~ the whole world can ultimately be traced back to capitalist greed

[–] mushroom@hexbear.net 35 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

[Lead Scientist Gary Yang] soon ran into trouble. He said he couldn't persuade any U.S. investors to come aboard.

"I talked to almost all major investment banks; none of them (wanted to) invest in batteries," Yang said in an interview, adding that the banks wanted a return on their investments faster than the batteries would turn a profit.

Yang acknowledges that he wanted his U.S. engineers to work in China. But he says it was because he thought Rongke Power could help teach them critical skills.

He said he wanted to manufacture the entire battery in the U.S., but that the U.S. does not have the supply chain he required. He said China is more advanced when it comes to manufacturing and engineering utility-scale batteries.

"In this field — manufacturing, engineering — China is ahead of the U.S.," Yang said. "Many wouldn't believe [it]."

[–] Tachanka@hexbear.net 29 points 2 years ago

xigma-male trade-offer

[–] invo_rt@hexbear.net 28 points 2 years ago

Many such cases xi-cooking