[ad_1]
On occasion, I write a newsletter called The Race to Zero Emissions. (You can register here if you wish.) While we were reporting our recently published guide to the current battery revolution, I asked subscribers to send me their questions on the subject. We have already answered some of these questions in the articles we have published so far, but there were some interesting ones that did not quite fit. We decided to answer them individually below.
1. Why so much attention on batteries and so little on hydrogen fuel cells?
Both technologies have been around for decades, but one of them is clearly winning. There are currently more than 5 million battery-powered electric cars (BEVs) on the road, but fewer than 10,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars.
The reason that hydrogen fails to take off is the need for a completely new infrastructure. While the world needs more charging stations for electric cars, there is at least one option to plug BEVs into any electric charger. There are only a few places in the world where you can go to fill up on hydrogen.
That being said, both technologies share many fundamental principles. As a result, researchers are currently working on lines of study that could have applications in batteries and fuel cells. In addition, with the lower costs of renewable energy and water chlorinators, it is still possible that we live in a future fueled by hydrogen.
2. Which part of the world conducts research on battery technology?
The United States is the undisputed leader in battery research. Through the Department of Energy, the US government has made significant investments in battery research for decades. At first, the research was aimed at gaining a competitive advantage in space applications. In the 2000s, the electrification of road transport was at the center of the concerns. And now, it focuses on the electrification of air transport and energy storage at the network scale.
The result is that the United States has the largest number of researchers in the field of batteries and therefore also produces the largest number of battery starts.
That said, as MIT professor and battery contractor Yet-Ming Chiang told me, the United States still does not have the support it needs to help batteries move from the pilot stage to the industrial stage. As a result, many US startups eventually developed in China or were purchased by Chinese companies as their large-scale deployment efforts in the US failed.
3. Is the battery management system more important than the battery?
A battery management system is essential for lithium-ion battery applications in all areas, from telephones to electric cars. For example, lithium-ion batteries in cars heat up a lot when loading or unloading. Without a monitoring and heat management system, the materials inside can be damaged and the life of the battery is reduced. Another example: most electric car batteries are made up of hundreds of small batteries and when charging or discharging, the system must maintain a good balance between all these individual units. Without a battery management system, one of the many units can be overloaded, resulting in its failure or even a fire.
That said, the ultimate battery limits come from fundamental physics and chemistry, which are more difficult to overcome than problem-solving software. The batteries are therefore even more important than the battery management system.
4. Will semiconductor batteries be practical and commercially available for cars in the next few years?
Probably. Venkat Viswanathan, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a consultant to QuantumScape, one of the most in-demand start-ups in the semiconductor battery industry, certainly thinks so. As a general rule, it takes 15 years for new battery materials, from labs to commercial scales. QuantumScape was founded in 2010.
In context, batteries in the solid state use a solid electrolyte material instead of the typical liquid electrolyte. The work of the electrolyte is to pbad ions between the electrodes, as the battery charges and discharges. The use of solid electrolytes will open the possibility of using new types of anodes, such as lithium metal, which store much more energy than the anode in graphite of today.
The problem is that up to now, liquids tend to be more effective than solids. But companies like QuantumScape, Blue Current and Toyota are trying to solve the problem.
5. Are there batteries of the size of a house in a reasonable price range?
Yes. RedFlow, an Australian company, and Voltstorage, another German company, offer debit batteries for homes. Whether you consider their price reasonable, the price will depend on your place of residence and the price you pay for the electricity you consume.
For context, "debit batteries" are an unusual type of battery. Instead of storing energy in a small solid housing, like most batteries, the flow batteries store energy in large amounts of liquids contained in tanks attached to pumps. The most common use of circulating batteries is in industrial applications. This is because scaling the battery requires large tanks and pumps, and therefore tends to be cheaper to use for larger scale storage. RedFlow and Voltstorage products appear to be about the size of a conventional refrigerator; neither company has published prices on their websites.
6. What are the plans to reuse and recycle the battery metals to minimize the constant extraction of metals?
I have long answered this question in the basic article of the Quartz Battery Practical Guide, which describes the state of the industry. Article on the state of the game. The short answer is that, until now, the battery economy has not supported the need for recycling or reuse. This is starting to change as the number of electric cars sold continues to grow.
reuse: Companies such as Nissan, Renault and Audi are again using electric car batteries for storing energy or other electric vehicles. But these applications have not yet pbaded the pilot tests.
To recycle: There is a lot more going on here. In 2018, Audi and Umicore have shown that 95% of valuable lithium-ion battery materials can be recovered from recycling. The Chinese government has also put in place stricter regulations for recycling, which has encouraged battery manufacturers to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in setting up recycling facilities.
In short, on both fronts, we will see many more in the coming years.
Looking for deeper coverage of the batteries? Get a free membership test at Quartz and read our comprehensive guide on the future of batteries.
Source link
