The Future of Energy Storage
Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog!
Today I will be talking about what engineers expect to use as energy storage if/when lithium-ion batteries could become outdated.
As with any other technology, batteries are always advancing and eventually lithium-ion batteries might not be the best form of energy storage anymore.
There are a few problems with lithium-ion batteries which is why this has become a pressing issue.
- Lithium is highly flammable and reactive meaning it needs to be kept at super specific temperatures and while this is possible for SRP to do, it is a safety hazard.
- There is a scarcity of lithium and they are held in reserves far from manufacturing centers.
- Producing lithium is not the best for sustainability as mining it can cause greenhouse gas emissions.
- Durability is a factor that must be considered for any battery as their lifespan decreases over time.
There are a few lithium-ion battery alternatives that are in the works which include the following:
- Sodium-ion batteries would replace lithium ions as charge carriers with sodium which is beneficial as sodium is far more abundant than lithium. However, the ions would be physically larger which means sodium-ion batteries have lower energy density.
- Lithium-sulfur batteries use sulfur as a cathode material rather than cobalt which is difficult to find. However, lithium-sulfur batteries degrade much faster.
- Aqueous magnesium batteries are higher in availability and have a higher ionic charge. However, the cathode materials that are used for lithium-ion batteries wouldn’t work for aqueous magnesium batteries meaning more research would need to be conducted for what could work.
These 3 are just a few alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries, while they have their share of issues, are currently still the best form of energy storage that utility companies like SRP can use. Thank you for reading!