Now Alsym Energy has developed a nonflammable, nontoxic alternative to lithium-ion batteries to help renewables like wind and solar bridge the gap in a broader range of sectors. The company’s electrodes use relatively stable, abundant materials, and its electrolyte is primarily water with some nontoxic add-ons.
"Recycling a lithium-ion battery consumes more energy and resources than producing a new battery, explaining why only a small amount of lithium-ion batteries are recycled," says Aqsa Nazir, a postdoctoral research scholar at Florida International University's battery research laboratory.
Emerging alternatives could be cheaper and greener. In Australia's Yarra Valley, new battery technology is helping power the country's residential buildings and commercial ventures – without using lithium. These batteries rely on sodium – an element found in table salt – and they could be another step in the quest for a truly sustainable battery.
In addition, alternative batteries are being developed that reduce reliance on rare earth metals. These include solid-state batteries that replace the Li-Ion battery’s liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte, resulting in a more efficient and safer battery.
Columbia Engineers have developed a new, more powerful “fuel” for batteries—an electrolyte that is not only longer-lasting but also cheaper to produce. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are essential for the future of our planet, but they face a major hurdle: they don’t consistently generate power when demand is high.
Nature Energy 7, 461 (2022) Cite this article Next-generation batteries have long been heralded as a transition toward more sustainable storage technology. Now, the need to enable these lithium-ion alternatives is more pressing than ever.