With lithium-ion batteries playing a crucial role in various applications, there’s a strong push for more sustainable battery options. Materials like cobalt and nickel in these batteries can harm the environment and are becoming harder to procure.
Battery demand is set to rise by approximately 30%, reaching nearly 4,500 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually by 2030. Initiatives like the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) and Lithium-Ion Battery Resource Assessment Model (LIBRA) aim to establish a market for eco-friendly raw materials.
Tesla has taken a proactive approach, exploring material extraction from their own mines, like the one in Nevada, USA. As the cost of raw materials increases, securing access becomes crucial for major brands, increasing the cost of EVs, which is projected to increase by 22% by 2026.
This article compiles information about sustainable batteries that help with today’s problems.
Advancing Sustainable Battery Sources and Technologies
Here’s a list of sustainable batteries offering solutions for current battery challenges that are good for various industries:
1. Longer-Lasting Lithium Batteries
Scientists at Caltech are working on making lithium batteries last longer to help shift to renewable energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Current lithium-ion batteries are expensive, so Caltech is researching new materials made from common resources like magnesium, iron, and sulfur.
The aim is to develop affordable batteries, especially focusing on magnesium-sulfur batteries. Magnesium and sulfur are abundant and cheap, providing a cost-effective and sustainable solution.
The team is also studying how well these materials can store energy, moving towards better and more affordable energy storage options.
2. Zinc-Air Batteries
Zinc-air batteries have some great qualities. It uses zinc, which is easy to recycle and cost-effective, as the anode material. For the cathode active material, it uses oxygen from the air, which is abundant and eco-friendly. The electrolyte (KOH solution) is non-toxic and safe.
These batteries have competitive energy and power densities, with a higher theoretical energy density compared to lithium batteries. Ongoing efforts focus on developing new formulations, more active catalysts, and efficient recycling processes.
3. Sodium-Ion Batteries
Sodium batteries are more affordable to produce than lithium batteries due to the abundance of raw materials. The plentiful availability of sodium, which shares chemical properties with lithium, allows shared production machinery to be used.
Additionally, sodium batteries are a sustainable choice, providing advantages in terms of durability, resource availability, safety, and cost-effectiveness.
Wood Mackenzie anticipates that sodium-ion batteries will gain a significant market share in passenger EVs and energy storage, projecting a capacity of 20 GWh by 2030 in its base-case scenario.
Recently, Northvolt has achieved a breakthrough by developing a cutting-edge sodium-ion battery with an impressive energy density of over 160 watt-hours per kilogram. This technology, validated at their R&D campus in Sweden, offers a safer, more cost-effective, and sustainable alternative to conventional chemistries.
The low cost and safety features make sodium-ion technology particularly attractive for energy storage solutions in emerging markets like India, the Middle East, and Africa while offering regional battery manufacturing capacity potential.
4. Cobalt-Free Batteries (CoFBAT)
MIT chemists have developed a new lithium-ion battery that could revolutionize electric cars by replacing cobalt with an organic cathode material. Cobalt-free batteries are seen as more sustainable due to cobalt’s environmental and social costs. Based on TAQ (bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone), the new material offers comparable performance to traditional cobalt-containing batteries. It’s not only cost-effective but also shows potential for faster charging rates.
With a lifespan exceeding 2,000 charge cycles, this development marks a significant step towards environmentally friendly and economically viable electric vehicles. Lamborghini has licensed the patent for this technology, highlighting its potential industry impact.
5. Organic Redox Flow Batteries
Organic Redox Flow Batteries (ORFBs), unlike traditional redox flow batteries that use scarce and expensive metals like vanadium, replace traditional materials with organic alternatives.
A team of researchers from Sweden’s Linköping University has developed this ORFB by coating carbon electrodes with a conducting organic polymer called PEDOT and using quinone molecules for the electrolyte solution. This approach makes the battery water-based and eliminates the need for toxic acids. Moreover, the use of organic materials enhances safety and recyclability.
While organic redox flow batteries may have a lower energy density than their vanadium counterparts, they offer scalability, cost-effectiveness, and safety benefits. These batteries can be easily scaled up to accommodate large energy capacities by using larger electrolyte storage tanks.
Additionally, they can remain charged or discharged for extended periods without degradation, making them suitable for various applications.
As technology advances, it holds the potential to revolutionize energy storage on both a grid-scale and for individual consumers, offering an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional battery systems.
6. Anodeless Solid-State Batteries
Anode-less Solid-State Batteries (ASSBs) emerge as a breakthrough in energy storage, offering a solution to the limitations of current Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs). While LIBs, widely used since the 1990s, face challenges in terms of energy density, safety, and lithium scarcity, ASSBs eliminate the need for a lithium metal anode (LMA).
By incorporating the lithium source within the cathode, these batteries maximize energy density, enhance safety by eliminating excess lithium, and reduce manufacturing costs.
However, a key challenge lies in addressing the corrosion of lithium during operation, impacting Coulombic efficiencies. Researchers are exploring solid electrolytes to create stable interphases, aiming to achieve higher efficiencies and longer cycle life for ASSBs, paving the way for a safer, more efficient, and cost-effective energy storage solution.
7. Solid-State Batteries
Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte in traditional lithium-ion batteries with a solid material, offering numerous benefits. The shift to solid-state technology is seen as a pivotal step in creating safer, more efficient, and sustainable energy storage solutions for various applications, including EVs.
Toyota anticipates producing game-changing solid-state batteries by 2028, providing EVs a 1200 km range with a 10-minute charge. BMW’s innovation boasts an impressive energy density of up to 1200 watt-hours per liter, significantly surpassing current batteries at 700 watt-hours per liter. The company plans to implement this technology in its “Neue Klasse” electric vehicles starting in 2025.
Samsung SDI is actively developing solid-state batteries, showcasing research results with over 1,000 charge/discharge cycles and 800 km mileage. These batteries enhance safety, increase energy density, and contribute to the growing trend of electric mobility.
8. Iron-Air Batteries
Form Energy, a Massachusetts-based company, believes it has a game-changer for sustainable battery sources: iron-air batteries.
These batteries, each the size of a washer/dryer set, utilize iron and air for energy production, employing a process called “reverse rusting.” When discharging, the cells “breathe” in air, transforming iron into iron oxide, generating energy. To recharge, a current reverses the oxidation, turning the cells back into iron.
Iron-air batteries, once experimented with by NASA, are 10x cheaper, perform better, and last 17x longer, offering up to 100 hours of storage compared to LIBs.
While iron-air batteries are large and slow to recharge, Form Energy, backed by Gates, plans to deploy them alongside lithium-ion batteries, aiming to address peak power demands and store excess energy from renewables.
9. Calcium-ion Batteries
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have uncovered a breakthrough in battery technology, identifying calcium ions as a potential, low-cost, and sustainable alternative to lithium ions.
This discovery addresses concerns about lithium-ion batteries’ scarcity, high costs, and safety issues. The goal is to create an inexpensive, abundant, safe, and sustainable battery chemistry using calcium ions in a water-based electrolyte.
The study explores the use of calcium ions despite challenges related to their larger size and higher charge density. The researchers demonstrated an aqueous calcium-ion battery using molybdenum vanadium oxide (MoVO) as a host material. This showcases the promising performance and envisions a future where calcium-ion batteries replace lithium-ion technology.
Building Sustainable Batteries for a Greener Future
Necessary steps are being taken to make batteries more environmentally friendly. New and improved battery technologies are being developed, like the ones Toyota, BMW, and Samsung SDI are working on. These advancements show promise for a cleaner and greener future.
However, it is not just about creating better batteries. This means recycling old batteries responsibly to minimize harm to the environment. Advanced recycling methods like recovering lithium from waste batteries can help reduce environmental impact and support a circular economy.
To ensure batteries work well without causing harm, we also need to check their condition regularly. Techniques like dynamic impedance spectroscopy and AI-driven analysis are used for real-time checks. This helps optimize performance and lessens the environmental impact during battery use.
Moreover, how we get materials for batteries matters too. This includes extracting lithium from sources like brine or hydrogeological locations and using processes like ion pumping. These methods provide alternatives to traditional material extraction, building an overall sustainable battery industry.
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