09/15/2023
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
Fraunhofer researchers have looked into battery technologies that are promising as an alternative to the lithium-ion battery.
No question, lithium-ion batteries are currently the dominant battery technology due to their wide range of applications, for example, in electric vehicles or in stationary and mobile end devices. The non-renewable raw material lithium required for this purpose is frequently found on earth, but only in very low concentrations. Most of the deposits of the silvery-white light metal are located in Chile and Australia. In each country, there are different and sometimes complicated framework conditions for mining the lithium.
In view of the geopolitical dependencies and supply relationships, the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe has investigated alternative battery technologies - including primarily metal-ion, metal-sulfur, metal-air and redox-flow batteries. They published the results in a roadmap on Sept. 14.
"There are still quite a few challenges in Germany and Europe, such as reducing dependence on raw materials, securing access to battery cells and upstream supply chains, as well as efforts to reduce resource consumption and even build a recycling economy," the roadmap's authors write. This raises the question of whether and which alternative battery technologies could help reduce dependencies while increasing demand.
The technology-specific advantages and disadvantages of alternative battery technologies, their areas of application, markets and supply chains are analyzed in the roadmap. Costs and industrial scalability are also content. So are possible fields of action for the EU and Germany with regard to technology sovereignty.
Alternative battery types such as metal-ion or metal-air batteries offer, as the researchers note, high potential for greater sustainability, lower costs and less resource consumption. However, they exhibited lower technology maturity. Due to their comparatively lower energy density in some cases, alternative battery technologies would require larger quantities of raw materials to achieve the same storage capacity. However: many of the non-lithium based technologies required less critical raw materials for this. The Fraunhofer researchers classify the production and supply of lithium, nickel and cobalt in particular as "critical for the time being", especially in the next five to ten years.
Metal-ion batteries - such as sodium-ion or zinc-ion batteries - are promising. Their production steps would be very similar to those of lithium-ion batteries. Existing production technologies and environments could be used directly or would only need to be adapted to a limited extent, according to Karlsruhe.
Costs higher due to lower production scale
With regard to costs, the researchers are cautious: although alternative battery types would potentially have lower material costs than their lithium-ion counterparts. However, their cell costs are likely to be higher initially due to the lower production scale. Scaling up production would bring significant cost advantages here, but this would require sufficiently large markets and applications on a GWh scale.
The Fraunhofer conclusion: lithium-ion batteries will continue to dominate the market. However, selected alternative battery technologies could provide relief from raw material, production and supply dependencies in certain markets and applications and thus contribute to technology sovereignty. However, further efforts in the area of research and development in Germany are required for this purpose.
Dr. Annegret Stephan, scientific coordinator of the roadmap at Fraunhofer ISI, points to the need for support from policymakers: "Especially in the initial phase, when future market development is still uncertain, incentives for industry can be helpful. A holistic policy approach that takes into account the entire supply chain, basic research on technology-specific issues, patents, production processes, securing resources and the perspectives of end users is essential here."
The 112-page "Alternative Battery Technology Roadmap 30+" is available for download in English on the Fraunhofer ISI website.
Author: Davina Spohn
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