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Old 24-03-21, 06:45 AM   #1
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Default Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review - March 27th, ’21

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March 27th, 2021




So-Called Pirates Are Doing The Work When Publishers Fail To Preserve Their Games
Zack Zwiezen

Yesterday, TheGamer reported that Sony has plans to shut down the online PS3, PS Vita, and PSP stores that service those older consoles. While this has yet to be confirmed, and Sony has not responded to Kotaku’s request for comment, the internet discourse around this potentially troubling news immediately began to swirl.

If these stores go away, PS3, PS Vita, and PSP players will be unable to purchase new digital games. While there aren’t yet concrete details about what, if anything, is happening, the rumors have many PlayStation gamers understandably worried about the continued viability of their digital purchases.

One of the knee-jerk reactions I often see when this type of stuff happens is folks touting the superiority of physical media. The idea is that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can’t take away your discs or cartridges, even after a digital version of a game is delisted or otherwise rendered unavailable. But physical media isn’t the savior so many think it is.

For starters, physical games are often expensive and hard to access. Many games become scarce. Over time, game carts and discs can become valuable collector’s items, making it harder for many folks to track down a copy, let alone afford it. And that’s assuming one has the necessary classic hardware on hand, and in working order. You also have to hope the game in question even got a physical release.

The rise of smaller, digital-only games has been amazing. Smaller teams have brought us some truly incredible experiences, some of which could only work as cheaper, download-only titles. But if that digital game is only found on a single store—like, say, the Wii Shop—then all it takes to effectively remove that game from the world is one company going “Eh…shut it down.”

And even if the store stays up, there’s no guarantee that the company running it will let you play your old digital games on your latest hardware. Such is the case with the PS5, which has a small list of PS4 games that don’t work and which doesn’t play PS3 games at all (a small number are playable on PS Now, which isn’t the most enticing prospect). The Switch doesn’t support old digital Wii games, either. This lack of backward compatibility leaves digital collections stranded on their original platforms.

What you might be noticing is that the true villain of video game preservation isn’t expensive physical media, digital stores, or ailing old consoles: It’s game publishers that only concern themselves with generating profits, and do little to nothing to help preserve their creations for future generations.

The thing is, it would often benefit them to do so.

Take the case of No One Lives Forever, a classic shooter published in 2000. At the time it was a critically acclaimed hit. But years later, after physical copies dried up and with no digital release to be found, it became impossible to (legally) obtain and play NOLF on modern PCs.

In 2014 Night Dive Studios, a publisher / developer dedicated to reviving old games, looked into bringing NOLF to modern storefronts. It discovered a complicated web of corporate ownership, with companies like Activision not even sure if they owned the rights. Finally, months of investigating, negotiating, and talking to lawyers revealed that Warner Bros. (probably) held them. When Night Dive proposed a licensing deal to Warner to bring the game back, one which would have cost Warner Bros. very little, the answer was no. WB had no interest in publishing NOLF or working on the IP with anyone else. That was that. A beloved classic PC game was left dead in a ditch as a big company sat around guarding its corpse. Nobody could play it.

Well, not quite. See, you can play No One Lives Forever right now, but not because of WB or Activision. Instead, you’ll have to break the law. The fan-released version Rock Paper Shotgun reported on looks great and is fully patched up, all thanks to the real heroes: preservationists willing to break intellectual property laws to allow games to live on even after contracts end, storefronts go dark, and official servers shut down.

This kind of real preservation is rarely done by corporations. Instead, communities form around games and keep them alive for years beyond their normal commercial lifespans. These people are doing some impressive things. Look at the continued work on the unofficial but fantastic PC port of Super Mario 64. Or just a few days ago, The Hidden Palace uploaded over 700 PlayStation 2 game prototypes and dev builds, uncovering and preserving a huge bit of game history in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, publishers like Nintendo use lawyers to crack down on the availability of emulator-playable ROMs for games that are no longer sold. Nintendo even explicitly limits how long it will sell certain games. None of this helps preserve these works. In fact, it actively hurts efforts to do so.

I find this situation frustrating and sad. It’s unfortunate that the best way to play a huge swath of old games in 2021 is by (illegally) downloading a ROM and playing it on an enthusiast-built emulation app. What’s more frustrating to me is that there exists a legal option that would benefit publishers and players alike and could help old games retain their relevance, or sometimes even grow their fanbase.

It is this: Release all games on PC, preferably alongside their source code. Having PC game releases with source code would make certain aspects of game preservation much easier, and could allow even the oldest games to survive for decades to come. It frees games from being tied to one single platform or the whims of whatever capitalist entity published it.

This isn’t a wild, unproven theory. One of the most-ported and played classic games is the original Doom. id Software released its source code back in 1997, only four years after Doom’s launch. Since then fans have created numerous “source ports” of the game, to the point that Doom’s now playable on almost any device with a screen.

As a result, Doom has also stayed relevant. That’s important, because while the source ports have made it extremely easy to play Doom without buying it (all it takes is a quick search to find the necessary content files) that hasn’t hurt the IP. I’d argue the opposite! One possible reason Doom is still around—and we just got a big DLC expansion for the series’ latest game, Doom Eternal—is people still give a shit about Doom in 2021. And people still give a shit because it’s incredibly easy to play Doom. It’s only a few clicks away and its enthusiastic community has taken its source code in directions id never imagined.

Granted, most games aren’t as great as Doom, but when good source code is available you might be surprised how many games suddenly get ported to any number of oddball platforms. Heck, the dead-as-a-doornail (at least commercially) PS Vita just got a great port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas thanks to fans reverse-engineering that game’s code. Imagine the goodwill Rockstar might have garnered had it actually officially released the source itself.

If you happen to be a bigwig at some giant publisher, that’s a key takeaway: Make it easy for fans to play your game years later and it will pay off in the long run. Release it on PC to start with, and release the source code later. Consider it an investment. The community will spend years and years improving your game, porting it to new platforms and keeping it relevant. Then, when the time comes and you want to make a new game in the franchise, you have an audience waiting.

As for smaller companies and devs, I understand releasing the source code isn’t always feasible. But if you want your games to be around in 20 years, being played on old phones and smart fridges, at least try to get a PC port out. (And to be fair most smaller devs and publishers do this already! So thanks for that.)

Sony’s possible shuttering of its older PSN storefronts is a reminder that all of our digital goods and libraries will, most likely, disappear one day. More needs to be done to keep games alive long into the future. The occasional Limited Run releases, remakes, and remasters aren’t enough. Big publishers especially need to step up and do more, in particular for games they’re no longer selling. If they don’t want the community of pirates and modders to jump in and preserve their games for them, they should at least make an effort to sell their games on PC. Or better yet, release the source code and let fans keep these games playable long into the future.

It might be easy to focus on today and forget about the future. But the so-called pirates won’t, and thank god for that.
https://kotaku.com/so-called-pirates...-fa-1846533244





Warner Bros. Will Return to Theatrical Releases in 2022, Ending its HBO Max Experiment

But with a shorter 45-day exclusivity window for theaters
Chaim Gartenberg

Warner Bros. will return to releasing its theatrical films exclusively in theaters next year, Deadline reports. The decision ends the studio’s 2021 experiment of releasing major films like Wonder Woman 1984, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, The Suicide Squad, Dune, and The Matrix 4 simultaneously on its HBO Max streaming service and in theaters for the first 30 days they’re released.

The news comes as part of an announcement from Warner Bros. of a new deal with Regal cinemas owner Cineworld, the second largest theater chain in the world. After over six months of shutdowns, Regal’s theaters will reopen in April, and they’ll begin showing Warner Bros. films like Kong vs. Godzilla and Mortal Kombat alongside their HBO Max debuts.

When Warner Bros. films come back to theaters in 2022, Regal theaters will once again have full exclusivity (with no HBO Max or paid streaming rental competition). But that exclusivity window will be for a much shorter amount of time: Regal will only have a 45-day theatrical exclusivity window, half of the 90-day standard that existed in years past.

The shortened theatrical window matches recent changes from other studios instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating effects on the film business. Paramount recently announced similar 45-day windows for its blockbuster films like Mission: Impossible 7 and an even shorter 30-day window for smaller titles. Universal has also signed similar deals with both AMC and Cinemark: films with openings less than $50 million domestically will hit paid video services 17 days after they debut, while movies with larger opening weekends can start paid rentals 31 days after debuting.

Disney has similarly been experimenting with day and date premium streaming releases through its Disney Plus Premiere Access program, which has offered films like Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon early for an additional $30 fee.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/23/2...s-2022-hbo-max





Adult Film Star Calls for Veto of Utah Porn-Filter Bill
(AP)

An adult film star has called on the governor of Utah to veto a bill that would mandate pornography filters on all new cellphones and tablets sold in the state.

Cherie DeVille said in a letter published Saturday in The Daily Beast that the law would violate residents’ First Amendment rights.

It “would create more than a slippery slope for free speech—it would form a deadly slope that would send Utah residents’ civil liberties off a hill,” DeVille wrote. Electronic civil liberties experts have voiced similar concerns.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill, but has said it would send an “important message” about preventing children from accessing explicit online content. Supporters have said the bill would not violate constitutional rights because adults could turn off the filters.

DeVille said parents should install their own device filters to prevent children from accessing explicit content.

The Utah proposal would only be enforced if five other states also enact similar laws. That provision was added to address concerns that it would be logistically difficult to implement.

Cox has said he is also less worried about constitutional concerns because the measure would not go into effect right away. He has until Thursday to sign or veto bills.

Combating porn is a perennial issue for Utah state lawmakers, who have previously mandated warning labels for online and printed material and declared pornography a “public health crisis.”
https://apnews.com/article/technolog...55a43ff8231239





Utah Governor Signs Legislation Requiring Porn Filters on Cellphones, Tablets
Jordan Williams

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed a bill on Tuesday requiring porn filters on cellphones and tablets, The Associated Press reports.

The bill, H.B. 72, is aimed at establishing filter requirements and enforcement for tablets and smartphones activated in the state on or after Jan. 1 of the year the measure takes effect, according to its text. Manufacturers that don’t abide by the law could face fines of $10 for each violation with a cap of $500.

At least five other states have to pass the measure for it to take effect, however.

A spokesperson for Cox previously told the AP that he would “carefully consider this bill during the signing period.”

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Susan Pulishper (R), said she was “grateful” that Cox signed the bill, which she said was aimed at keeping porn away from children, the AP notes. She also noted that parents could take the filters off.

Jason Groth, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, told the news service that the measure was “another example of the Legislature dodging the constitutional impacts of the legislation they pass.” He further said the bill’s constitutionality will likely be argued in court.

Utah has been trying to curb pornography in the state for years.

Former Gov. Gary Herbert (R), for example, asked the state for $50,000 in 2016 to fund the Utah Coalition Against Pornography, which was a private nonprofit group that fights porn.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...-on-cellphones





Rep. Jamaal Bowman Introduces New Bill to Lower Broadband Costs

His bill would require HUD to classify broadband as a utility
Makena Kelly

For years, the broadband debate has centered around connecting people living in rural and unserved areas across the country. But while some rural Americans don’t have the infrastructure necessary to connect to the internet, other families in urban communities face difficulties affording what’s already available. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) is set to introduce a new measure Tuesday that could help millions of households access more affordable broadband.

“The more access to broadband people have, the more access and opportunity they have to the world beyond where they currently exist,” Bowman told The Verge on Tuesday. “The internet is a library. It’s an encyclopedia. It’s information.”

Bowman’s “Broadband Justice Act,” co-sponsored by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) who chairs a housing subcommittee, would require the Housing and Urban Development Department, along with the Treasury and USDA, to update its utility allowance definitions to include broadband so it can be subsidized for families living in government-assisted housing. Other utilities like gas and electricity are already subsidized in this way. The bill would also create a new grant program to help wire buildings and build out other broadband-related infrastructure.

“There’s a lot of momentum and energy around making this a utility, not just from members of Congress but from organizers on the outside,” Bowman told The Verge. “The grassroots is really behind this.”

The FCC already has subsidy programs, like Lifeline, that make broadband more affordable for qualified households, but it’s been the subject of disinvestment for many years. Many Lifeline subscribers receive poor connections, and according to The Washington Post, many people who qualify for the program refuse to use it due to its insufficiencies.

As Congress prepares for its next big infrastructure package, money for broadband expansion will likely be included in the process. Last week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) introduced a sweeping broadband package that would invest over $94 billion in building high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas. The Senate Commerce Committee also plans to hold a hearing on broadband expansion this week.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/16/2...et-hud-subsidy





You can now Tell the FCC just how Broken the Internet is for You

The FCC is turning to average citizens to learn the state of internet service in the US
Ian Carlos Campbell

It’s not at all controversial to say that internet service sucks in the United States. As part of its plan to update coverage maps in the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a break from tradition, is finally asking average Americans to report which internet services are actually available where they live.

In the past, the FCC has made these coverage maps with self-reported data from the ISPs themselves, an inherently compromising decision because internet service providers will naturally want to paint the rosiest picture possible. Since the FCC uses these maps as evidence for proposed regulation, it can seriously hinder the FCC’s ability to make sure there’s actual competition in the market and that the internet is being responsibly distributed. For instance, a map might show that you have 11 broadband providers when you actually only have one or two real options.

Jessica Rosenworcel
@JRosenworcel
Take note. We're going straight to consumers.
The FCC
@FCC
Today we will begin collecting first-hand accounts on #broadband availability and service quality directly from consumers as part of our Broadband Data Collection program. #FCCGov #BroadbandData https://go.usa.gov/xsMYR


Now, the FCC will finally go to the people actually using the internet to learn what’s up, though you may need to communicate clearly to be heard. The form the FCC is using for your responses is decidedly rudimentary; it looks like a general complaint form, and doesn’t ask any specific questions about broadband at all (the only reference is in the header). But the FCC says it’s a stopgap on the path to a more detailed and specific reporting tool. For now, perhaps you can take a look at the FCC’s current crappy maps at your address, and tell the FCC whether you actually have the kinds of choices that the ISPs claim you have.

Hopefully, once the Broadband Data Task Force finishes collecting these new data points, we’ll have more accurate maps that show the worrying reality of American internet, and be able to do something about it.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/22/2...x-the-internet





Elon Musk’s Starlink is Coming to a Country with One of the World’s Worst Internet Connections
Simon Alvarez

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system is poised to change the internet landscape in a country considered to have one of the worst internet connections in the world.

The Philippines may be home to millions of social media-savvy people, but the quality of internet services in the country has remained dismal over the years. As noted in a VICE report, the Philippines boasts some of the slowest internet speeds across the globe, ranking 100th globally.

The Southeast Asian country is also notorious for having the most expensive internet services, with a 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index ranking the Philippines as 82nd in terms of internet affordability out of 85 countries. The country’s dismal internet quality is due to several factors, one of which involves an ISP duopoly that locals consider equally inadequate and expensive.

That is, at least, until Starlink comes to the country. In a recent statement, Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc, one of the smaller internet service providers that have emerged in recent years as an alternative to the country’s two leading ISPs, announced that it had conducted several talks with SpaceX to bring Starlink to the Philippines.

Speaking with local news agency ANC, Converge co-founder and CEO Dennis Anthony Uy remarked that his company is already in communication with SpaceX. When asked if a deal is indeed progressing, Uy noted that “It’s on.” “We continue to look for new technologies to bring high-speed internet service to Filipinos, which is including SpaceX,” the CEO said.

While a relatively small country in the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines could be a good testbed for Elon Musk’s vision of a global satellite internet system. The Philippines, after all, comprises over 7,000 islands, some of which remain extremely remote until today. One of these places, a small village called Palauan, actually became the recipient of a Tesla Powerpack installation, which ended up providing residents with stable renewable energy.

SpaceX’s Starlink is only in its beta phase, and its 1,000 satellites in orbit are just a fraction of the system’s intended size. Despite this, Starlink users have already shared some positive experiences with the satellite-based system, with some noting that they are already experiencing download speeds of up to 400 Mbps after a recent update.
https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-...orst-internet/





Lockheed Martin Partners with Satellite Start-Up Omnispace to Build a Space-Based 5G Network
Michael Sheetz

Key Points

• Lockheed Martin’s space division on Tuesday announced a strategic interest agreement with satellite start-up Omnispace “to explore jointly developing 5G capability from space.”
• “This really stems from a common vision of a global 5G network, which enables users to seamlessly transition between the satellite [and the] terrestrial network,” Omnispace CEO Ram Viswanathan told CNBC.
• The partnership puts the companies in the widening field of space-based data communications, with potential competitors including Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink, AST & Science, OneWeb and Telesat.

Lockheed Martin’s space division announced a strategic interest agreement on Tuesday with satellite start-up Omnispace “to explore jointly developing 5G capability from space.”

“This really stems from a common vision of a global 5G network, which enables users to seamlessly transition between the satellite [and the] terrestrial network,” Omnispace CEO Ram Viswanathan said.

Viswanathan noted Lockheed Martin’s “depth of expertise” in a variety of markets, especially with a wide swath of customers from the Department of Defense.

“Their appetite never dulls and the kind of need they have for communications across the board,” said Rick Ambrose, Lockheed Martin Space executive vice president. “Omnispace has a very powerful vision of how to offer the service ... [and] how you get it down to a mobile device.”

Ambrose said the two companies have been interacting for about a year. The strategic interest agreement further cements the pair working toward a hybrid network that combines the reach of a global satellite network, known in the industry as a constellation, with the capacity of mobile wireless carrier networks.

The partnership puts the companies in the widening field of space-based data communications, with potential competitors including Elon Musk’s SpaceX consumer-focused Starlink broadband service, satellite-to-smartphone specialist AST & Science, and the enterprise-focused networks of OneWeb and Telesat.

Viswanathan recognized the other players building low Earth orbit satellite communications constellations, but differentiated Omnispace as offering a “direct to device capability” — rather than the “expensive and bulky” ground terminals that are required for users to connect to other space-based networks.

“We’re able to deliver the mobile communications capability to a standardized 5G base handset or terminal, and as you can imagine that starts to open up an array of applications,” Viswanathan said.

Omnispace last month raised a fresh round of venture capital, with investors led by Fortress Investment Group putting in $60 million. The Virginia-based company has raised $140 million since its founding in 2012, according to Pitchbook. Ambrose said it’s “too early to tell” whether Lockheed Martin will itself invest in Omnispace, but noted that the companies will “be exploring multiple options” as the partnership expands.

The next step for Omnispace will be to deploy a “proof concept” of its technology in space. But while Omnispace is not yet finished with designing its full system, Viswanathan said it will have a “dramatically lower cost than” other satellite communications constellations, which estimate anywhere from $5 billion to more than $10 billion to fully deploy.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/lock...g-network.html





Verizon to Begin Using 5G Technology to Provide Home Broadband Service in CT
Luther Turmelle

The competition for consumer dollars spent on broadband internet service in Connecticut gets a little more heated this week, as telecommunications giant Verizon launches what it calls 5G Home in parts of Hartford.

Verizon plans to extend the service to other communities in the future, according to Verizon spokesman Chris Serico. The service carries a $50 per month price tag for for Verizon customers and $70 per month for everyone else.

In return, company officials say users will get typical download speeds of 300 megabits per second and upload speeds around 50 megabits per second.

The lack of choice among providers has become a high profile issue in Connecticut in the past year, with so many more people working from home during the pandemic.

High-speed service is what makes Zoom meetings and remote classrooms run smoothly, without video images freezing. It allows workers to download large files from their employers more quickly, and also to stream movies or video games.

Gov. Ned Lamont has said his administration would push to make broadband more widely available available across the state and to increase the service choices in areas that already have it.

Serico said bringing 5G Home to your residence doesn’t require the help of a technician. It also comes with no annual contracts and no data caps.

The launch of the service marks Verizon’s first entry into Connecticut’s overall broadband market. While the company has long been part of the state’s cellular phone service market (which allows for internet access), it does offer its FIOS fiber optic broadband and cable television service anywhere in Connecticut.

5G, or “fifth generation” technology, started out as an exclusive broadband service for cellular phone users.

But according to Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst based in Atlanta, Verizon and other mobile service providers are now looking to exploit the technology to woo customers who are dissatisfied with their existing broadband choices.

“Though its a cellular broadband technology, the real push right now is the home market,” Kagan said. “Everything you do with [traditional] broadband now, you’ll have the ability to do with 5G home.”

Here’s how 5G home works in the simplest of terms, according to Lon Seidman, a technology expert from Essex. The signal is delivered to the home through the air using cellular transmissions. An antenna at the home picks up the signal and delivers it to the rest of the home, creating an internet hot spot.

“The big takeaway from 5G is that they can fit more customers on a single [cellular] tower,” Seidman said. “Before, they could not get as many people crammed on a tower.”

With the launch of 5G home in Hartford, the service will be available in parts of 28 cities around the country. Seidman said that while Verizon’s 5G service “is pretty darn good,” its success will ultimately depend upon where you are in the state.

“A lot of areas struggle to get a cell signal, so it’s not going to be good everywhere,” Seidman said. “It will be better in the more densely populated areas.”
https://www.newstimes.com/news/artic...e-16050732.php





Sonos Introduces 24-Bit Qobuz Streaming to S2 Platform

Sonos has announced that it has expanded its relationship with Qobuz by offering its customers a 24-bit Qobuz high-resolution streaming option.
Robert Archer

Sonos explains that Qobuz supports audiophiles in a number of ways beyond 24-bit streaming content with options such as its download store.

Sonos has announced that it has added 24-bit Qobuz streaming to its selection of streaming services.

The addition of the high-resolution streaming service is available to users of Sonos S2 platform, and it provides users access to a wide range of studio-quality content.

“Qobuz has always strived to make the highest quality audio accessible, as people become more interested in better sound,” comments Dan Mack, marketing manager, Qobuz USA.

“Now, on Sonos devices, we’re making it easy for millions more people to experience the improvement Hi-Res audio can make.”

Ryan Richards, director of product marketing at Sonos, points out the addition of the 24-bit Qobuz is enabled by versatility of the S2 operating system architecture.

“Our open platform enables partners to bring the best of their experiences to the Sonos system and our mutual customers,” says Richards.

“Qobuz has been at the forefront of high resolution music streaming, and we look forward to customers enjoying their music with the clarity, depth, and room-filling sound of Sonos.

24-Bit Qobuz Enhances Sonos Audio

Looking back, Sonos notes that back in 2013 it offered users Qobuz 16-bit FLAC streaming capabilities.

Now, the company continues, its expanded relationship with Qobuz enables music fans to stream 24-bit/48kHz content. The relationship from Qobuz’s perspective continues the streaming service’s ongoing expansion of hardware partnerships, which includes high-resolution compatible hardware on the Android platform.

Sonos also notes that Qobuz has throughout its history catered to the audiophile market. Some of the ways the service supports the audiophile market includes curated content, liner notes and a download store.

In addition to the 24-bit Qobuz service’s availability in the United States, Sonos says the option is also available in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
https://www.cepro.com/audio-video/so...o-s2-platform/





Study Reveals Plunge in Lithium-Ion Battery Costs

Analysis quantifies a dramatic price drop that parallels similar improvements in solar and wind energy, and shows further steep declines could be possible
David L. Chandler

The cost of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used for phones, laptops, and cars has fallen dramatically over the last three decades, and has been a major driver of the rapid growth of those technologies. But attempting to quantify that cost decline has produced ambiguous and conflicting results that have hampered attempts to project the technology’s future or devise useful policies and research priorities.

Now, MIT researchers have carried out an exhaustive analysis of the studies that have looked at the decline in the prices these batteries, which are the dominant rechargeable technology in today’s world. The new study looks back over three decades, including analyzing the original underlying datasets and documents whenever possible, to arrive at a clear picture of the technology’s trajectory.

The researchers found that the cost of these batteries has dropped by 97 percent since they were first commercially introduced in 1991. This rate of improvement is much faster than many analysts had claimed and is comparable to that of solar photovoltaic panels, which some had considered to be an exceptional case. The new findings are reported today in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, in a paper by MIT postdoc Micah Ziegler and Associate Professor Jessika Trancik.

While it’s clear that there have been dramatic cost declines in some clean-energy technologies such as solar and wind, Trancik says, when they started to look into the decline in prices for lithium-ion batteries, “we saw that there was substantial disagreement as to how quickly the costs of these technologies had come down.” Similar disagreements showed up in tracing other important aspects of battery development, such as the ever-improving energy density (energy stored within a given volume) and specific energy (energy stored within a given mass).

“These trends are so consequential for getting us to where we are right now, and also for thinking about what could happen in the future,” says Trancik, who is an associate professor in MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society. While it was common knowledge that the decline in battery costs was an enabler of the recent growth in sales of electric vehicles, for example, it was unclear just how great that decline had been. Through this detailed analysis, she says, “we were able to confirm that yes, lithium-ion battery technologies have improved in terms of their costs, at rates that are comparable to solar energy technology, and specifically photovoltaic modules, which are often held up as kind of the gold standard in clean energy innovation.”

It may seem odd that there was such great uncertainty and disagreement about how much lithium-ion battery costs had declined, and what factors accounted for it, but in fact much of the information is in the form of closely held corporate data that is difficult for researchers to access. Most lithium-ion batteries are not sold directly to consumers — you can’t run down to your typical corner drugstore to pick up a replacement battery for your iPhone, your PC, or your electric car. Instead, manufacturers buy lithium-ion batteries and build them into electronics and cars. Large companies like Apple or Tesla buy batteries by the millions, or manufacture them themselves, for prices that are negotiated or internally accounted for but never publicly disclosed.

In addition to helping to boost the ongoing electrification of transportation, further declines in lithium-ion battery costs could potentially also increase the batteries’ usage in stationary applications as a way of compensating for the intermittent supply of clean energy sources such as solar and wind. Both applications could play a significant role in helping to curb the world’s emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases. “I can't overstate the importance of these trends in clean energy innovation for getting us to where we are right now, where it starts to look like we could see rapid electrification of vehicles and we are seeing the rapid growth of renewable energy technologies,” Trancik says. “Of course, there's so much more to do to address climate change, but this has really been a game changer.”

The new findings are not just a matter of retracing the history of battery development, but of helping to guide the future, Ziegler points out. Combing all of the published literature on the subject of the cost reductions in lithium-ion cells, he found “very different measures of the historical improvement. And across a variety of different papers, researchers were using these trends to make suggestions about how to further reduce costs of lithium-ion technologies or when they might meet cost targets.” But because the underlying data varied so much, “the recommendations that the researchers were making could be quite different.” Some studies suggested that lithium-ion batteries would not fall in cost quickly enough for certain applications, while others were much more optimistic. Such differences in data can ultimately have a real impact on the setting of research priorities and government incentives.

The researchers dug into the original sources of the published data, in some cases finding that certain primary data had been used in multiple studies that were later cited as separate sources, or that the original data sources had been lost along the way. And while most studies have focused only on the cost, Ziegler says it became clear that such a one-dimensional analysis might underestimate how quickly lithium-ion technologies improved; in addition to cost, weight and volume are also key factors for both vehicles and portable electronics. So, the team added a second track to the study, analyzing the improvements in these parameters as well.

“Lithium-ion batteries were not adopted because they were the least expensive technology at the time,” Ziegler says. “There were less expensive battery technologies available. Lithium-ion technology was adopted because it allows you to put portable electronics into your hand, because it allows you to make power tools that last longer and have more power, and it allows us to build cars” that can provide adequate driving range. “It felt like just looking at dollars per kilowatt-hour was only telling part of the story,” he says.

That broader analysis helps to define what may be possible in the future, he adds: “We’re saying that lithium-ion technologies might improve more quickly for certain applications than would be projected by just looking at one measure of performance. By looking at multiple measures, you get essentially a clearer picture of the improvement rate, and this suggests that they could maybe improve more rapidly for applications where the restrictions on mass and volume are relaxed.”

Trancik adds the new study can play an important role in energy-related policymaking. “Published data trends on the few clean technologies that have seen major cost reductions over time, wind, solar, and now lithium-ion batteries, tend to be referenced over and over again, and not only in academic papers but in policy documents and industry reports,” she says. “Many important climate policy conclusions are based on these few trends. For this reason, it is important to get them right. There’s a real need to treat the data with care, and to raise our game overall in dealing with technology data and tracking these trends.”

"Battery costs determine price parity of electric vehicles with internal combustion engine vehicles," says Venkat Viswanathan, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not associated with this work. "Thus, projecting battery cost declines is probably one of the most critical challenges in ensuring an accurate understanding of adoption of electric vehicles."

Viswanathan adds that "the finding that cost declines may occur faster than previously thought will enable broader adoption, increasing volumes, and leading to further cost declines. ... The datasets curated, analyzed and released with this paper will have a lasting impact on the community."

The work was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
https://news.mit.edu/2021/lithium-io...ery-costs-0323

















Until next week,

- js.



















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