Please do your research. The cost of wind and solar keep declining - solar at a much faster rate. I've never come across an article reporting something different. Carbon emissions are also much lower than fossil fuels over the life cycle.

As for materials, some are available around the world, others are not. Lithium deposits are in different countries and other sources are being developed. Some material, such as cobalt, is located primarily in one country - Congo. Lots of abuse of laborers in the extraction process, which doesn't make the news and seems to have been missed by you as a complaint. Researchers are looking for alternatives of hard to source materials or ways to more effectively recycle existing materials to reduce mining.

The widespread transition to renewables is still early in the process. We will learn and figure out ways to do things better. Technology will change. Alternatives to lithium are constantly being tested. Please don't attack something that you don't understand.

Everything requires an investment no matter where the power is coming from. Renewables continue to decrease in cost and can generate energy for less than fossil fuels - sometimes a lot less, hence it's a no brainer to build out renewable power sources. They also last for decades, produce much less greenhouse gases over their life cycle, and, in the case of Europe, less money is being sent to a country threatening you with nuclear war. Transitioning to renewables is inevitable. The war is accelerating it.

No idea. The article is referencing renewables for generating electricity. Batteries are for storage. China is currently a major supplier of battery technology because they decided to aggressively invest in the future while countries like the United States kept subsidizing fossil fuels. Lithium deposits are scattered around the globe. Countries and industries around the world are aggressively trying to diversify and create alternatives to a supply chain dominated by the Chinese. It will take time.

The eventual transition is a no brainer given the cost savings of renewables compared to fossil fuels. The Ukrainian war just accelerated it to reduce European reliance on Russian fossil fuels. It's a big upfront capital investment for Europe but they will be in an enviable position going forward when they don't have to rely as much on fossil fuels and their price volatility. I also wonder what it will mean for internal growth and investment. Rather than continually spending tens of billions of Euros in the international fossil fuel market, they will be keeping much of those expenditures and reinvesting it elsewhere. I'm curious to see the long term effect of that.

One would think it would be easy to find given how radioactive it is. A geiger counter mounted on a vehicle should go off when passing it. The article mentions it was part of some device that presumably also fell off. I wonder if someone saw the device and took it for scrap or out of curiosity.

Ha! Gave me this image of 5 story kangaroos bouncing through the outback.

When I was in the Army I was watching a National Guard unit do their annual PT exam during their summer training. They start their run and this older, overweight guy is bringing up the rear. He stopped after a hundred or two hundred yards. He pulls out a cigarette, lights it, and just starts walking. Could not believe I had just witnessed that!!

The only human he cares about is himself.