Also on today’s menu:
Supporting Farmers’ Markets
No More Info Czar
One of the challenges in transitioning from fossil fuels is finding a way to store electricity until it is needed. Flow batteries have the potential to meet that need because they operate for a much-longer period than the typical four hours of lithium-ion batteries. They also have a lower fire risk. (Think: exploding Teslas.)
A key design element of the flow battery is the use of two external tanks containing electrolyte fluids that are pumped through the battery as it charges and discharges. The duration of the battery before it needs recharging increases based on the size of the tanks. Adding more liquid avoids having to add more batteries to achieve more power.
The flow battery system developed by ESS Tech Inc., an Oregon startup, will be able to discharge 3 megawatt-hours before being recharged, which is enough electricity to meet the needs of about 100 houses for one day. It includes six shipping containers that house the batteries, each with stacks of batteries, with tanks of electrolyte fluid for each battery.
Supporting Farmers’ Markets
New Hampshire’s House and Senate agreed to fund a food assistance program that will help low-income mothers and children purchase fresh food at farmers’ markets.
Senator Becky Whitley (D-Hopkinton) introduced Senate Bill 403, which would have provided $300,000 to the program. After her bill failed, she added the provision into House Bill 1099. Lawmakers agreed on May 17 to allocate one-tenth of that amount, $30,000, for the program, which would operate through the Department of Health and Human Services.
“[It] would be the right amount to get the program started,” said Representative Jess Edwards (R-Auburn), who explained that the money would cover administrative start-up costs. The program could then be fully funded in subsequent years through the state’s normal budget process, he said.
No More Info Czar
Even before Nina Jankowicz resigned from her new job as executive director of the government’s new Disinformation Governance Board, citing menacing emails filled with rape or death threats, the Department of Homeland Security had announced plans to “pause” the board.
As Forbes pointed out, “The name itself suggests illegal government activity that the American people would never tolerate, regardless of their partisan affiliation. Legally, it is rarely permissible for the U.S. government to be the arbiter of truth. The name suggested that it would do just that — despite DHS officials’ protests that it was designed to protect free speech.”
The board was created to study ways of combating the harmful effects of viral lies and propaganda that could threaten domestic security. Neither the board nor Jankowicz had any power to declare what is true or false, or to take action against certain types of speech. Still, it sounded like the “Ministry of Truth” in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four.
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