The Media Doesn't Exist To Inform... It Exists To Drive Traffic [Outsider Club Header]
Feb 26, 2024 By Alex Koyfman This Is How They Lie To You Dear Reader, 900 tons of lithium batteries went up in flames in Southern France earlier this week in what was the biggest lithium-fed conflagration so far this year. [france lithium fire] The story made headlines across all the major media outlets generating waves of fear and panic across the world, because letâs face it⦠these batteries are everywhere. You probably have one in your pocket right now, or are holding one in your hand as you read this. Inside your own home, there are probably half a dozen or more of these batteries powering your laptops, bluetooth speakers, phones, tablets, cameras, etc⦠And each of them is just another fire waiting to happen. Thatâs the story youâve been fed, anyway. Several facts are always omitted from articles covering these fires, not the least of which is that the incident rate of fire is actually close to zero. Let's break down the numbers. [The âNerve Centerâ of the $15.7 Trillion AI Revolution]( See this massive compound?
[TWA AI Tollbooth Image 1] It could easily be the most valuable piece of real estate in the world right now⦠But itâs NOT a military base or a secret government lab. Itâs the epicenter of the blossoming $15.7 trillion AI revolutionâ¦Because every popular AI app like ChatGPT, DALL-E, or Bing MUST pay this tech firm to access an essential resource that keeps their apps running smoothly for users. And this firm is legally mandated by the government to share a whopping 90% of its colossal profits with individuals like you and me. [Discover the company behind this secret facility that could hand you as much as $48,800 annually.]( This Is How They Lie To You As of this year, there are over 22 billion wireless devices in operation across the world. Thatâs almost 3 devices for every man, woman and child. Using that very raw ratio (it's likely far greater in any major Western urban area), there are between 25 and 30 million such devices in use in New York City alone. Last year, NYC tallied a record 268 lithium battery fires â or about 5 per week. Even when using the low estimates of total batteries in operation in the city, thatâs one fire for every 93,280 batteries. Furthermore, most of these fires are linked to e-bikes, and more specifically, e-bikes using refurbished batteries. So the chances that your phone is going to burn your house down falls by at least another order of magnitude. Now, letâs compare this catastrophic failure rate to the failure rate of another widely used technology â automobiles. Why Are Deadly Road Accidents So Much Less Scary Than Lithium Fires? Last year, over 43,000 Americans lost their lives in automotive collisions (down slightly from 2022). Divide the total number of road-going vehicles by this number and you get about 1 fatality per 6,500 vehicles on the road. [traffic deaths] Mind you, those are fatalities â the most severe outcome of any road-going catastrophe. Remove the fatality element and the ratio is even more stark. In 2021, there were precisely 6,102,936 police-reported accidents nationwide â or about 1 for every 43 vehicles on the road. Now, I know youâre probably thinking that this comparison is a bit of a logical stretch, but is it really? When discussing catastrophic failure rates of popular consumer products to determine if media attention is equally distributed, the comparison works quite well. Does it matter that one is usually a technical failure and the other is user-error generated? Not particularly. Neither car nor wireless device can operate without the human user. That makes every catastrophe a failure of a system, not just a piece of technology. Oppenheimer Would NEVER Have Seen This Coming After 70 years, J. Robert Oppenheimerâs legacy is being rewritten. Itâs all due to the breakthroughs being made in next-gen nuclear technology, like small modular reactors (SMRs). These mini reactors are safer, smaller, and will start popping up all over the world in the next few years... But the real opportunity isnât in the builders of these SMRs â itâs in their fuel source. [You need to see this one for yourself immediately.]( As systems go, despite being at least 4 times more numerous, lithium-battery powered devices and their human users are far, far less dangerous than cars and their drivers. Going back to NYC, where lithium fires killed 18 and injured 150 last year, the toll for road-going vehicles for that same year is over 200 dead and more than 34,000 injured. Which begs the question⦠Are [lithium-ion batteries]( really that dangerous as far as consumer products go? The Media Doesn't Exist To Inform... It Exists To Drive Traffic The answer, of course, is no. If lithium fires were nearly as frequent as the media makes them out to be, scores of people would be dying each and every day. Airliners would be falling from the sky, set alight by these pocket-sized incendiary devices. But the reality is, lithium-ion batteries, even old and refurbished ones, very rarely fail on this level. The difference between cars and smart phones is that for decades weâve been conditioned to accept the hazards of driving and traveling. When catastrophes happen, we offer thoughts and prayers, thank god it wasnât us and move on. Weâre used to it, which means weâre no longer shocked when it happens. That also means the media has no reason to report anything but the worst of the worst of these incidents. Nevertheless, fire risk is one of the primary reasons why the tech industry is scrambling right now to find a better and safer solution to the problem of portable energy storage. There's $322 Billion Worth of Lithium in Northwest Alberta...Why Can't Anybody Touch It? For more than 40 years, an oil company has been working a 671-square-mile chunk of northwestern Alberta, producing its lifeblood using brine thatâs kept in hundreds of massive storage ponds. These storage ponds have long been known to contain a massive lithium resource, totaling an estimated 4.3 million tons. Just recently a tiny Vancouver-based technology company, founded and headed by petrochemical industry veterans, figured out a way to extract the lithium from this brine, very quickly and very efficiently. So efficiently, in fact, that the company can filter this oil field brine, returning it to the pond after processing, with a better than 95% capture rate. Production of salable lithium will cost between $3,000 and $4,000 per ton, while market rates price lithium at $70,000 per ton. They know where the lithium is, they know how to extract it, and, as of now, they have an agreement in place to work this giant lithium-rich property. Commercial production is now projected to be in place by the middle of 2024, with buyers already lining up. [Interested? Enter here to learn more.]( A Fun Fact About Solid-State Solid-state batteries are currently the most popular alternative, and are expected to start seeing commercialization in the EV world within a few years. Since lithium-ion battery fires are almost always the result of failure within the liquid electrolyte, itâs clear that the design philosophy behind lithium-ionâs successor is guided by (mostly overblown) safety concerns. As of late last year, the solid-state battery has become the mediaâs darling in the race to replace the current standard, but thereâs one small fact that the same media tends to leave out. Solid-state batteries also use lithium in their electrodes. Once perfected, these next-gen batteries will be more energy-dense, longer-lasting, and quicker-charging. But the lithium component is going nowhere. Which brings me to the ultimate point. Regardless of the bad press lithium has been getting, weâre not going to be off the lithium standard for a long time. The Bubble Is Behind Us... Demand Is Rising... Supply is Falling And lithium demand, despite temporary corrections in the market or missed EV sales projections, will continue to rise. That makes right now the best time ever to invest in the supply. Lithiumâs bubble has burst. Prices are irrationally low. Supply is dwindling. Demand, pushed by electric cars, consumer tech and distributed [energy storage systems](, is rising. Now, here is where the opportunity emerges. Last summer, the biggest lithium discovery in history was made on the Nevada/Oregon border. Locked inside an ancient remnant from the eruption at the Yellowstone super volcano, this discovery, which could contain as much as 40 million tons, is big enough to completely change the global balance of power â which right now rests firmly in the hands of a very greedy, and very hostile Chinese Communist Party. But like all things lithium these days, the stock behind this discovery is trading low, largely avoided by skittish speculators. Donât be the dumb money. [Learn everything there is to know about this discovery, and what it could mean for the EV and consumer tech sectors](. Fortune favors the bold, [alex koyfman Signature] Alex Koyfman [[follow basic]Check us out on YouTube!]( His flagship service, Microcap Insider, provides market-beating insights into some of the fastest moving, highest profit-potential companies available for public trading on the U.S. and Canadian exchanges. With more than 5 years of track record to back it up, Microcap Insider is the choice for the growth-minded investor. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to [Energy and Capital](. To learn more about Alex, [click here](. Follow the Outsiders [YouTube]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. You can manage your subscription and get our privacy policy[here](. Outsider Club, Copyright © Outsider Club LLC, 3 E Read Street Baltimore, MD 21202. Please note: It is not our intention to send email to anyone who doesn't want it. If you're not sure why you're getting this e-letter, or no longer wish to receive it, get more info [here]( including our privacy policy and information on how to manage your subscription. If you are interested in our other publications, please call our customer service team at [1-855-496-0830](tel:/18554960830).