Nature.com wrote an article describing the lithium battery countdown, as we gradually run out of reserves of critical elements. We have had concerns about this problem ourselves for a while. However, this is not out of parochial, self-seeking interests as lead battery suppliers. Renewable energy needs ultra-high-capacity batteries, and renewable energy holds our future in its hands.
Electric Vehicles Accelerating Lithium Battery Countdown
Electric vehicles are the key to eliminating combustion engines flooding our atmosphere with carbon dioxide. This is skewing the greenhouse effect and causing our planet to warm. Commercial lithium-ion cells are currently the best-available solution, but we are running out of time.
While the amount of energy stored in lithium batteries has tripled and costs have fallen, some problems remain unsolved. Electric car batteries in the 50 to 100 kWh range weigh around 600 kilograms and take up to 500 liters of space. Moreover, their $150 per kilowatt-hour cost is still 50% higher than the Department of Energy target.
The Pace of Lithium Battery Improvement Is Stalling
Conventional technology is reaching its limits in terms of the amount of energy we can store in crystalline electrode materials. We are also nearing maximum benefits from economies of scale. It is time for the lithium battery countdown to begin. We need to replace it with something else.
Cobalt and nickel for lithium batteries are becoming expensive as demand shoots past supply. Furthermore, safety standards are falling in some graphite and lithium mines in the scramble to extract as much as possible, as cheaply as possible. Graphite dust has damaged crops and polluted drinking water in Chinese villages. Small children stagger under the weight of sacks of cobalt in Democratic Republic of Congo cobalt mines.
Therefore, we urgently need a new type of electrode using cheap common metals. Then the lithium battery countdown to a really green future can resume.
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Preview Image: NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2
