Lead batteries are very well established both for automotive and industrial applications and have been successfully applied for utility energy storage but there are a range of competing technologies including Li-ion, sodium-sulfur and flow batteries that are used for energy storage.
This technology strategy assessment on lead acid batteries, released as part of the Long-Duration Storage Shot, contains the findings from the Storage Innovations (SI) 2030 strategic initiative.
The leakage of sulfuric acid was the main environmental risk of lead-acid batteries in the process of production, processing, transportation, use or storage. According to the project scale the sulfuric acid leakage rate was calculated to be 0.190kg/s, and the leakage amount in 10 minutes was about 114kg.
Lead-acid batteries are the most widely and commonly used rechargeable batteries in the automotive and industrial sector. Irrespective of the environmental challenges it poses, lead-acid batteries have remained ahead of its peers because of its cheap cost as compared to the expensive cost of Lithium ion and nickel cadmium batteries.
Lead–acid batteries may be flooded or sealed valve-regulated (VRLA) types and the grids may be in the form of flat pasted plates or tubular plates. The various constructions have different technical performance and can be adapted to particular duty cycles. Batteries with tubular plates offer long deep cycle lives.
Improvements to lead battery technology have increased cycle life both in deep and shallow cycle applications. Li-ion and other battery types used for energy storage will be discussed to show that lead batteries are technically and economically effective. The sustainability of lead batteries is superior to other battery types.