We will probably always have batteries of some size or type with us, because we can’t imagine life without them. Although we have to concede no battery we know will last forever, before we have to recycle its materials. Batteries will be with us forever for three reasons every battery user should know (although you may know already)
Practical Batteries Will Be With Us Forever More
Batteries are a go-to, easily accessible resource for energy storage. The smaller ones are portable, so they travel with us everywhere we go. Our grandparents already knew that, so that’s no big deal in itself. But there is another, bigger reason why we will always have batteries of some or other kind.
Batteries provide us with portable energy for our smartphones we could never do without. However, large stationery ones are even more important. They are the only practical way we know to store large amounts of renewable energy.
Batteries Are Versatile, Meaning They Adapt To Our Needs
Batteries will be with us forever in some or other shape or kind, because their chemistry is so flexible. The first practical batteries were of the lead-acid kind, but these were too bulky for portable flashlights, so along came alkaline chemistry.
Lithium-ion technology is better for electric vehicles though, because it packs a larger electrical punch. We are standing on the doorstep of even better alternatives, in the form of solid-state sodium and lithium-sulfur battery storage. But it’s too early to predict the winner!
Some Form of Battery Will Be With Us Forever For Sure!
We agree with Massachusetts Institute of Technology that battery chemistry seems mysterious, until we understand it at least. Chemical battery scientists keep tweaking the basic design with different materials, but there are other forms of energy storage peaking out over our horizon.
Here our minds turn to other forms of stored energy, like compressed air, hot sand, gravity batteries, flow battery technology, and so on. Batteries will be with us forever for as long as we need the ability to store electrical energy. And that will probably be for a very long time!
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