(Of course, if Japan would just USE its current 27GW of pumped water storage to accommodate renewables, instead of reserving it for nuclear plants that many never come back online, that would eliminate some of the need for storage).
How are technologies going?
This Bloomberg article is a good update on some efforts. Pellion Technologies' lithium metal battery, now shipping in limited quantities with twice the density of a current lithium ion battery and able to be manufactured using the same manufacturing facility as lithium ion, was one of those featured at the "Innovation for Cool Earth Forum" (ICEF) this month in Tokyo. It is an MIT spin off, I believe.
And you would not want to speculate on growing cobalt demand, despite the current predictions of a squeeze, since Tesla is already making batteries that are 3% cobalt, as opposed to LG's current 20%.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-18/who-s-ahead-in-the-battery-race
