The push to battle climate change, transition away from fossil fuels and provide effective, sustainable forms of energy is being undertaken at all parts of the battery manufacturing process, from mining, to toll processing, to manufacture.
At present, the dominant type of battery, that you see in electric vehicles, mobile phones and practically every form of electronic gadget on the market is the lithium-ion battery, which provides a reliable, long term battery of sufficient voltage for use in high-powered electronics.
The big problem with transitioning to them at scale is the rarity of lithium itself, and the potential ethical dilemma that could come from increasingly destructive mining exercises to obtain a material intended to help avoid catastrophic climate change.
However, batteries less reliant on such a rare metal have been experimented with and could potentially serve as a sustainable alternative to the sustainable alternative.
One of these is iron-flow batteries, which could potentially store renewable energy for longer periods, uses much cheaper materials and has been touted as a potential way to take advantage of excess wind and solar power.
Iron-flow battery technology uses an electrolyte made of iron, salt and water, which is physically pumped as the battery charges and discharges.
The technology itself is not new, and NASA had built a flow battery in 1980. However, there was a fundamental issue that has taken over 40 years to solve.
When the battery charges, the traditional iron-flow process produces a tiny amount of hydrogen, which can in the long term shorten the battery’s life.
The solution, discovered by ESS, was to stop the hydrogen being released from the system and increasing the battery’s life considerably.
Whilst lithium appears to be the most popular solution for EVs and electronics, for now, potential alternatives may be on the horizon.