#energystorage — Public Fediverse posts

LG Energy Solution Starts Production at 35-GWh Michigan Battery Plant

LG Energy Solution has started production at its new battery manufacturing facility in Lansing, Michigan, as the South…
#EuropeSays #Korea #KR #LGEnergySolution #batterymanufacturing #electricvehicles #energystorage #gridstorage #LFPbatteries #LG #LGEnergy #Michigan #NMCbatteries #toyota #U.S.batterysupplychain
https://www.europesays.com/korea/125832/

Ore Energy Raises $43 Million to Unlock Renewable Baseload Power for the AI Era

AMSTERDAM, NL AND DELFT, NL, August 4, 2026 (Newswire.com) – As demand for electricity from AI, manufacturing, and…
#Energy #energystorage #gridstorage #iron-air #ldes #long-durationenergystorage #multi-daystorage #oreenergy
https://www.europesays.com/3173244/

Silicon-Carbon Battery Tech Ends EV Range Anxiety 10-Min 0–80% Charge

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/07/20/silicon-carbon-battery-tech-ends-ev-range-anxiety-10-min-0-80-charge/

Silicon-Carbon Battery Tech Ends EV Range Anxiety 10-Min 0–80% Charge

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/07/20/silicon-carbon-battery-tech-ends-ev-range-anxiety-10-min-0-80-charge/

Silicon-Carbon Battery Tech Ends EV Range Anxiety 10-Min 0–80% Charge

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/07/20/silicon-carbon-battery-tech-ends-ev-range-anxiety-10-min-0-80-charge/

Silicon-Carbon Battery Tech Ends EV Range Anxiety 10-Min 0–80% Charge

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/07/20/silicon-carbon-battery-tech-ends-ev-range-anxiety-10-min-0-80-charge/

Silicon-Carbon Battery Tech Ends EV Range Anxiety 10-Min 0–80% Charge

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/07/20/silicon-carbon-battery-tech-ends-ev-range-anxiety-10-min-0-80-charge/

Our gPV DC fuse is specially designed for photovoltaic combiner boxes and energy storage systems.

It is made of high-quality materials, quickly extinguishes arcs, has excellent heat dissipation performance, and has a long service life.

Web: http://en.ctqdq.com

#NewEnergy #Fuse #Photovoltaic #SolarEnergy #EnergyStorage

Our gPV DC fuse is specially designed for photovoltaic combiner boxes and energy storage systems.

It is made of high-quality materials, quickly extinguishes arcs, has excellent heat dissipation performance, and has a long service life.

Web: http://en.ctqdq.com

#NewEnergy #Fuse #Photovoltaic #SolarEnergy #EnergyStorage

Our gPV DC fuse is specially designed for photovoltaic combiner boxes and energy storage systems.

It is made of high-quality materials, quickly extinguishes arcs, has excellent heat dissipation performance, and has a long service life.

Web: http://en.ctqdq.com

#NewEnergy #Fuse #Photovoltaic #SolarEnergy #EnergyStorage

Our gPV DC fuse is specially designed for photovoltaic combiner boxes and energy storage systems.

It is made of high-quality materials, quickly extinguishes arcs, has excellent heat dissipation performance, and has a long service life.

Web: http://en.ctqdq.com

#NewEnergy #Fuse #Photovoltaic #SolarEnergy #EnergyStorage

Thermal Energy Storage Gains Momentum as Power Systems Adapt to Renewable Energy Growth
https://www.cashlesstime.com/2026/06/thermal-energy-storage-gains-momentum.html?m=1

#ThermalEnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyStorage #CleanEnergy #GreenTechnology #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy #WindEnergy #GridStorage #SustainableEnergy #Decarbonization #ClimateTech #PowerGrid #LongDurationStorage #IndustrialEnergy #NetZero #EnergyInnovation #FutureOfEnergy #ElectricityMarket #EnergySector

Thermal Energy Storage Gains Momentum as Power Systems Adapt to Renewable Energy Growth
https://www.cashlesstime.com/2026/06/thermal-energy-storage-gains-momentum.html?m=1

#ThermalEnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyStorage #CleanEnergy #GreenTechnology #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy #WindEnergy #GridStorage #SustainableEnergy #Decarbonization #ClimateTech #PowerGrid #LongDurationStorage #IndustrialEnergy #NetZero #EnergyInnovation #FutureOfEnergy #ElectricityMarket #EnergySector

Thermal Energy Storage Gains Momentum as Power Systems Adapt to Renewable Energy Growth
https://www.cashlesstime.com/2026/06/thermal-energy-storage-gains-momentum.html?m=1

#ThermalEnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyStorage #CleanEnergy #GreenTechnology #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy #WindEnergy #GridStorage #SustainableEnergy #Decarbonization #ClimateTech #PowerGrid #LongDurationStorage #IndustrialEnergy #NetZero #EnergyInnovation #FutureOfEnergy #ElectricityMarket #EnergySector

Thermal Energy Storage Gains Momentum as Power Systems Adapt to Renewable Energy Growth
https://www.cashlesstime.com/2026/06/thermal-energy-storage-gains-momentum.html?m=1

#ThermalEnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyStorage #CleanEnergy #GreenTechnology #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy #WindEnergy #GridStorage #SustainableEnergy #Decarbonization #ClimateTech #PowerGrid #LongDurationStorage #IndustrialEnergy #NetZero #EnergyInnovation #FutureOfEnergy #ElectricityMarket #EnergySector

Thermal Energy Storage Gains Momentum as Power Systems Adapt to Renewable Energy Growth
https://www.cashlesstime.com/2026/06/thermal-energy-storage-gains-momentum.html?m=1

#ThermalEnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyStorage #CleanEnergy #GreenTechnology #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy #WindEnergy #GridStorage #SustainableEnergy #Decarbonization #ClimateTech #PowerGrid #LongDurationStorage #IndustrialEnergy #NetZero #EnergyInnovation #FutureOfEnergy #ElectricityMarket #EnergySector

Anyone have any questions for the flow battery industry players? At the world's biggest flow battery event at the moment! Vanadium, iron, organic systems, system integrators, electrode/membrane/pump manufacturers... #EnergyStorage #batteries #GridStorage #FlowBatteries #Energy

Anyone have any questions for the flow battery industry players? At the world's biggest flow battery event at the moment! Vanadium, iron, organic systems, system integrators, electrode/membrane/pump manufacturers... #EnergyStorage #batteries #GridStorage #FlowBatteries #Energy

Anyone have any questions for the flow battery industry players? At the world's biggest flow battery event at the moment! Vanadium, iron, organic systems, system integrators, electrode/membrane/pump manufacturers... #EnergyStorage #batteries #GridStorage #FlowBatteries #Energy

Anyone have any questions for the flow battery industry players? At the world's biggest flow battery event at the moment! Vanadium, iron, organic systems, system integrators, electrode/membrane/pump manufacturers... #EnergyStorage #batteries #GridStorage #FlowBatteries #Energy

Anyone have any questions for the flow battery industry players? At the world's biggest flow battery event at the moment! Vanadium, iron, organic systems, system integrators, electrode/membrane/pump manufacturers... #EnergyStorage #batteries #GridStorage #FlowBatteries #Energy

Eni scommette sull’energy storage: nasce il polo italiano delle batterie LFP (litio-ferro-fosfato)

https://www.metallirari.com/breakingnews79/
#Batterie #EnergyStorage #Eni #SeriIndustrial #LFP #LithiumIronPhosphate #Gigafactory #TransizioneEnergetica #EnergieRinnovabili #AccumuloEnergetico #IndustriaItaliana #MadeInItaly #Innovazione #MercatoEnergetico #CleanEnergy #BatteryStorage #GridStorage #Europa #StrategicAutonomy #FilieraBatterie

The battery miracle online is doing the most

Dear Cherubs, the internet has once again discovered a battery so perfect it sounds like it came from a pitch deck written by a caffeinated intern and approved by gravity itself. The specific 90-second charge, 99.7% storage retention, and 5,000-cycle package circulating online was not verifiable from primary sources I checked, so the smart move is to treat it as a viral claim, not a finished breakthrough.

Reality check

What is real is the bigger trend: solid-state batteries replace the flammable liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid ion conductor, which can improve safety and potentially raise energy density. MIT has been making that case for years, while also pointing out that the interface between materials is still the part where the dream gets stuck in traffic.

That interface problem is not a footnote. MIT’s recent coverage says solid-state cells are still plagued by dendrites that can short-circuit the battery, and a 2020 MIT review lays out the rest of the mess: chemical stability, mechanical stability, processing, and long-term performance. In other words, the field is advancing, just not in the magical “plug in for 90 seconds and disappear for six months” way social media likes to sell it.

DOE’s battery overview says solid-state batteries can be safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures, but it also notes that some designs still use a little liquid at the cathode to reduce interfacial resistance. Translation: progress, yes. Fairy dust, no.

Why it matters

The good news is that the field is moving. In 2025, Stellantis and Factorial Energy said they validated automotive-sized solid-state cells with 375 Wh/kg energy density and fast charging from 15% to 90% in 18 minutes, with a demonstration fleet planned for 2026. That is not “two-minute EV charging,” but it is a serious step forward, which is how real engineering usually behaves when nobody is trying to go viral.

So the right takeaway is not that battery problems have been solved. It is that researchers keep making the hard part less impossible. If the viral post was pointing at a real advance, it was probably one brick in a wall, not the wall itself. The upside is still huge: safer packs, longer life, and faster charging. The downside is that physics remains deeply committed to being inconvenient.

Sources:
MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering — https://dmse.mit.edu/news/why-solid-state-batteries-keep-short-circuiting/
MIT News — https://news.mit.edu/2017/toward-solid-lithium-batteries-0202
MIT Review PDF — https://ecm.mit.edu/pubs/articles/10.1002_aenm.202002689.pdf
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
Stellantis — https://www.stellantis.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/april/stellantis-and-factorial-energy-reach-key-milestone-in-solid-state-battery-development
Wikimedia Commons image source — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All-Solid-State_Battery.png

The battery miracle online is doing the most

Dear Cherubs, the internet has once again discovered a battery so perfect it sounds like it came from a pitch deck written by a caffeinated intern and approved by gravity itself. The specific 90-second charge, 99.7% storage retention, and 5,000-cycle package circulating online was not verifiable from primary sources I checked, so the smart move is to treat it as a viral claim, not a finished breakthrough.

Reality check

What is real is the bigger trend: solid-state batteries replace the flammable liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid ion conductor, which can improve safety and potentially raise energy density. MIT has been making that case for years, while also pointing out that the interface between materials is still the part where the dream gets stuck in traffic.

That interface problem is not a footnote. MIT’s recent coverage says solid-state cells are still plagued by dendrites that can short-circuit the battery, and a 2020 MIT review lays out the rest of the mess: chemical stability, mechanical stability, processing, and long-term performance. In other words, the field is advancing, just not in the magical “plug in for 90 seconds and disappear for six months” way social media likes to sell it.

DOE’s battery overview says solid-state batteries can be safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures, but it also notes that some designs still use a little liquid at the cathode to reduce interfacial resistance. Translation: progress, yes. Fairy dust, no.

Why it matters

The good news is that the field is moving. In 2025, Stellantis and Factorial Energy said they validated automotive-sized solid-state cells with 375 Wh/kg energy density and fast charging from 15% to 90% in 18 minutes, with a demonstration fleet planned for 2026. That is not “two-minute EV charging,” but it is a serious step forward, which is how real engineering usually behaves when nobody is trying to go viral.

So the right takeaway is not that battery problems have been solved. It is that researchers keep making the hard part less impossible. If the viral post was pointing at a real advance, it was probably one brick in a wall, not the wall itself. The upside is still huge: safer packs, longer life, and faster charging. The downside is that physics remains deeply committed to being inconvenient.

Sources:
MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering — https://dmse.mit.edu/news/why-solid-state-batteries-keep-short-circuiting/
MIT News — https://news.mit.edu/2017/toward-solid-lithium-batteries-0202
MIT Review PDF — https://ecm.mit.edu/pubs/articles/10.1002_aenm.202002689.pdf
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
Stellantis — https://www.stellantis.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/april/stellantis-and-factorial-energy-reach-key-milestone-in-solid-state-battery-development
Wikimedia Commons image source — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All-Solid-State_Battery.png

The battery miracle online is doing the most

Dear Cherubs, the internet has once again discovered a battery so perfect it sounds like it came from a pitch deck written by a caffeinated intern and approved by gravity itself. The specific 90-second charge, 99.7% storage retention, and 5,000-cycle package circulating online was not verifiable from primary sources I checked, so the smart move is to treat it as a viral claim, not a finished breakthrough.

Reality check

What is real is the bigger trend: solid-state batteries replace the flammable liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid ion conductor, which can improve safety and potentially raise energy density. MIT has been making that case for years, while also pointing out that the interface between materials is still the part where the dream gets stuck in traffic.

That interface problem is not a footnote. MIT’s recent coverage says solid-state cells are still plagued by dendrites that can short-circuit the battery, and a 2020 MIT review lays out the rest of the mess: chemical stability, mechanical stability, processing, and long-term performance. In other words, the field is advancing, just not in the magical “plug in for 90 seconds and disappear for six months” way social media likes to sell it.

DOE’s battery overview says solid-state batteries can be safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures, but it also notes that some designs still use a little liquid at the cathode to reduce interfacial resistance. Translation: progress, yes. Fairy dust, no.

Why it matters

The good news is that the field is moving. In 2025, Stellantis and Factorial Energy said they validated automotive-sized solid-state cells with 375 Wh/kg energy density and fast charging from 15% to 90% in 18 minutes, with a demonstration fleet planned for 2026. That is not “two-minute EV charging,” but it is a serious step forward, which is how real engineering usually behaves when nobody is trying to go viral.

So the right takeaway is not that battery problems have been solved. It is that researchers keep making the hard part less impossible. If the viral post was pointing at a real advance, it was probably one brick in a wall, not the wall itself. The upside is still huge: safer packs, longer life, and faster charging. The downside is that physics remains deeply committed to being inconvenient.

Sources:
MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering — https://dmse.mit.edu/news/why-solid-state-batteries-keep-short-circuiting/
MIT News — https://news.mit.edu/2017/toward-solid-lithium-batteries-0202
MIT Review PDF — https://ecm.mit.edu/pubs/articles/10.1002_aenm.202002689.pdf
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
Stellantis — https://www.stellantis.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/april/stellantis-and-factorial-energy-reach-key-milestone-in-solid-state-battery-development
Wikimedia Commons image source — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All-Solid-State_Battery.png

The battery miracle online is doing the most

Dear Cherubs, the internet has once again discovered a battery so perfect it sounds like it came from a pitch deck written by a caffeinated intern and approved by gravity itself. The specific 90-second charge, 99.7% storage retention, and 5,000-cycle package circulating online was not verifiable from primary sources I checked, so the smart move is to treat it as a viral claim, not a finished breakthrough.

Reality check

What is real is the bigger trend: solid-state batteries replace the flammable liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid ion conductor, which can improve safety and potentially raise energy density. MIT has been making that case for years, while also pointing out that the interface between materials is still the part where the dream gets stuck in traffic.

That interface problem is not a footnote. MIT’s recent coverage says solid-state cells are still plagued by dendrites that can short-circuit the battery, and a 2020 MIT review lays out the rest of the mess: chemical stability, mechanical stability, processing, and long-term performance. In other words, the field is advancing, just not in the magical “plug in for 90 seconds and disappear for six months” way social media likes to sell it.

DOE’s battery overview says solid-state batteries can be safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures, but it also notes that some designs still use a little liquid at the cathode to reduce interfacial resistance. Translation: progress, yes. Fairy dust, no.

Why it matters

The good news is that the field is moving. In 2025, Stellantis and Factorial Energy said they validated automotive-sized solid-state cells with 375 Wh/kg energy density and fast charging from 15% to 90% in 18 minutes, with a demonstration fleet planned for 2026. That is not “two-minute EV charging,” but it is a serious step forward, which is how real engineering usually behaves when nobody is trying to go viral.

So the right takeaway is not that battery problems have been solved. It is that researchers keep making the hard part less impossible. If the viral post was pointing at a real advance, it was probably one brick in a wall, not the wall itself. The upside is still huge: safer packs, longer life, and faster charging. The downside is that physics remains deeply committed to being inconvenient.

Sources:
MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering — https://dmse.mit.edu/news/why-solid-state-batteries-keep-short-circuiting/
MIT News — https://news.mit.edu/2017/toward-solid-lithium-batteries-0202
MIT Review PDF — https://ecm.mit.edu/pubs/articles/10.1002_aenm.202002689.pdf
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
Stellantis — https://www.stellantis.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/april/stellantis-and-factorial-energy-reach-key-milestone-in-solid-state-battery-development
Wikimedia Commons image source — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All-Solid-State_Battery.png

The battery miracle online is doing the most

Dear Cherubs, the internet has once again discovered a battery so perfect it sounds like it came from a pitch deck written by a caffeinated intern and approved by gravity itself. The specific 90-second charge, 99.7% storage retention, and 5,000-cycle package circulating online was not verifiable from primary sources I checked, so the smart move is to treat it as a viral claim, not a finished breakthrough.

Reality check

What is real is the bigger trend: solid-state batteries replace the flammable liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid ion conductor, which can improve safety and potentially raise energy density. MIT has been making that case for years, while also pointing out that the interface between materials is still the part where the dream gets stuck in traffic.

That interface problem is not a footnote. MIT’s recent coverage says solid-state cells are still plagued by dendrites that can short-circuit the battery, and a 2020 MIT review lays out the rest of the mess: chemical stability, mechanical stability, processing, and long-term performance. In other words, the field is advancing, just not in the magical “plug in for 90 seconds and disappear for six months” way social media likes to sell it.

DOE’s battery overview says solid-state batteries can be safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures, but it also notes that some designs still use a little liquid at the cathode to reduce interfacial resistance. Translation: progress, yes. Fairy dust, no.

Why it matters

The good news is that the field is moving. In 2025, Stellantis and Factorial Energy said they validated automotive-sized solid-state cells with 375 Wh/kg energy density and fast charging from 15% to 90% in 18 minutes, with a demonstration fleet planned for 2026. That is not “two-minute EV charging,” but it is a serious step forward, which is how real engineering usually behaves when nobody is trying to go viral.

So the right takeaway is not that battery problems have been solved. It is that researchers keep making the hard part less impossible. If the viral post was pointing at a real advance, it was probably one brick in a wall, not the wall itself. The upside is still huge: safer packs, longer life, and faster charging. The downside is that physics remains deeply committed to being inconvenient.

Sources:
MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering — https://dmse.mit.edu/news/why-solid-state-batteries-keep-short-circuiting/
MIT News — https://news.mit.edu/2017/toward-solid-lithium-batteries-0202
MIT Review PDF — https://ecm.mit.edu/pubs/articles/10.1002_aenm.202002689.pdf
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
U.S. Department of Energy — https://www.energy.gov/cmei/ammto/breaking-it-down-next-generation-batteries
Stellantis — https://www.stellantis.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/april/stellantis-and-factorial-energy-reach-key-milestone-in-solid-state-battery-development
Wikimedia Commons image source — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All-Solid-State_Battery.png

How Giant Tanks Of Fluid Could Help Support The Power Grid

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/05/05/how-giant-tanks-of-fluid-could-help-support-the-power-grid/

How Giant Tanks Of Fluid Could Help Support The Power Grid

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/05/05/how-giant-tanks-of-fluid-could-help-support-the-power-grid/

How Giant Tanks Of Fluid Could Help Support The Power Grid

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/05/05/how-giant-tanks-of-fluid-could-help-support-the-power-grid/

How Giant Tanks Of Fluid Could Help Support The Power Grid

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/05/05/how-giant-tanks-of-fluid-could-help-support-the-power-grid/

#SodiumIonBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium

Oct 26th 2023

Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in #seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.

"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and #nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #EnvironmentallyDestructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo, where #ChildLabour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use #electrodes built from #iron and #manganese [and wood #lignin], which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.

"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as #GridStorage or #HomeBatteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in #ElectricVehicles."

Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithium

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX

#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIon #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse #NoLithiumMining #NoMining

#SodiumIonBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium

Oct 26th 2023

Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in #seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.

"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and #nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #EnvironmentallyDestructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo, where #ChildLabour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use #electrodes built from #iron and #manganese [and wood #lignin], which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.

"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as #GridStorage or #HomeBatteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in #ElectricVehicles."

Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithium

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX

#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIon #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse #NoLithiumMining #NoMining

#SodiumIonBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium

Oct 26th 2023

Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in #seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.

"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and #nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #EnvironmentallyDestructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo, where #ChildLabour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use #electrodes built from #iron and #manganese [and wood #lignin], which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.

"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as #GridStorage or #HomeBatteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in #ElectricVehicles."

Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithium

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX

#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIon #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse #NoLithiumMining #NoMining

#SodiumIonBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium

Oct 26th 2023

Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in #seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.

"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and #nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #EnvironmentallyDestructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo, where #ChildLabour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use #electrodes built from #iron and #manganese [and wood #lignin], which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.

"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as #GridStorage or #HomeBatteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in #ElectricVehicles."

Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithium

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX

#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIon #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse #NoLithiumMining #NoMining