As governments around the world focus on addressing climate change and stimulating the post-COVID economy, batteries have become an increasingly important part of the public conversation. It is now abundantly clear that the world’s ability to transition to clean energy and electric vehicles depends on the amount and quality of batteries that are available. Lithium-ion batteries are the only technology that can meet the performance requirements for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. However, the demand for lithium-ion batteries is rising far quicker than investments in the raw materials required to produce them. Industry analysts expect demand for batteries to exceed material supplies by mid-decade. Alternatives to lithium-ion batteries are urgently needed to ensure that the transition to clean energy continues unabated.
Zinc-Ion Batteries: A New Li-ion Alternative
Lithium-ion batteries were initially developed because of their ability to store a large amount of energy in a small amount of mass and volume. This high energy density is of critical importance for portable applications like electronics and electric vehicles. However, stationary applications like renewable energy storage do not benefit from this energy density. In fact, the safety issues inherent in lithium-ion batteries pose significant challenges for this market. This application, therefore, offers the most opportunity for a lithium-ion alternative.
To replace lithium-ion in stationary energy storage, new battery chemistries need to be able to match lithium-ion’s power capabilities while offering improved safety and lifetime cost. Despite many attempts, few technologies have been able to achieve this. Flow batteries, for example, offer improved safety and lifetime cost, but offer too low power to be broadly useful in the electrical grid. The same is true for zinc-air batteries. Zinc-halide batteries appear to be the best candidate for replacing lithium-ion, but they are over 10x the size of comparable lithium-ion systems which makes them poorly suited for residential applications and has serious cost implications.
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