Be careful when charging lithium-ion battery devices, Calgary Fire Department warns

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Lithium-ion batteries are found in devices like cellphones,

 laptops and electric cars

CBC News · Posted: Dec 09, 2022 

Calgary Fire Department Chief Steve Dongworth says it's important to use the correct charger for electronic devices that contain lithium-ion batteries to prevent overcharging and fires. (Tom Ross/CBC)

The Calgary Fire Department is warning residents to be aware of fire hazards when using electronic devices with lithium-ion batteries, which can cause fires when charged and stored incorrectly.

Chief Steve Dongworth said there is nothing unsafe about lithium-ion batteries themselves, which can be found in devices ranging from cellphones, laptops and power tools to electric cars and scooters. The challenge is how people safely store and charge devices with this type of battery in them.

"It's not being used with the right charger. It's being overcharged. We see cellphones sometimes being charged where the cellphone is in bedding or is covered up and there's no ventilation," Dongworth said.

With holiday season ahead and electronic gifts waiting under the tree, the fire chief said it's important to follow manufacturers' instructions with electronic devices and use the correct charger to avoid overcharging. Other ways to prevent fires is to make sure cellphones aren't stored under pillows while charging and that outlets are not overloaded.

According to Dongworth, the Calgary Fire Department responded to eight calls in 2022 related to fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.

'These are inherently safe products,' fire chief says

Dongworth said multiple lithium-ion battery fires that the department has responded to this year have happened in garages, which indicates to him that residents may not be charging electric cars, lawn mowers or snow blowers properly.

"These are inherently safe products," Dongworth said. "It's when the human behaviour comes in and perhaps we … changed the wiring somehow or we connect the wrong kind of charger or we don't follow the instructions, I think is where the risk is."

Lithium-ion batteries can be found in devices ranging form cellphones and laptops to electric cars and scooters. (Tom Ross/CBC)

Dongworth said if there is a fire in one's home caused by an electronic device, only try to put it out if it's a small fire and if there is a BC fire extinguisher around — the type of extinguisher that puts out flammable liquid and electrical equipment fires. If the fire is large, Dongworth said to immediately leave the area and call 911.

The fire chief also encouraged Calgarians to check the city's website to find out where to properly recycle devices that contain lithium-ion batteries, as they can spark fires if placed in landfills.

With files from Tom Ross

New electrolyte allows Li-ion batteries to heat up without risk of fire

Staff Writer | December 12, 2022 | 

e-Mini Cooper battery. (Reference image by Underway in Ireland, Flickr.)

Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University developed a non-flammable electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries that allows the devices to continue to function at high temperatures without starting a fire.


Up until now, the flammable electrolyte used in Li-ion batteries has caused some of them to stop working and catch fire when their temperature rises too high.

The reason for this is that conventional electrolytes are made of a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid organic solvent, such as ether or carbonate. While this solvent improves battery performance by helping to move lithium ions around, it is also a potential firestarter.

Batteries generate heat as they operate. And if there are punctures or defects in a battery, it will heat up rapidly. At temperatures above 140 degrees F, the small molecules of solvent in the electrolyte start to evaporate, transforming from liquid to gas and inflating a battery like a balloon – until the gas catches fire and the whole thing goes up in flames.

Over the past 30 years, researchers have developed non-flammable electrolytes such as polymer electrolytes, which use a polymer matrix instead of the classic salt-solvent solution to move ions around. However, these safer alternatives don’t move ions as efficiently as liquid solvents do, so their performance has not measured up to that of conventional electrolytes.

This is why the SLAC/Stanford team wanted to produce a polymer-based electrolyte that could offer both safety and performance.

SAFE electrolyte

Led by Rachel Z Huang, first author of the study that presents the electrolyte, the group decided to add as much as they could of a lithium salt called LiFSI to a polymer-based electrolyte designed and synthesized by Jian-Cheng Lai, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University and co-first author of the paper.

“I just wanted to see how much I could add and test the limit,” Huang said. Usually, less than 50% of a polymer-based electrolyte’s weight is salt. Huang bumped that number to 63%, creating one of the saltiest polymer-based electrolytes ever.

Unlike other polymer-based electrolytes, this one also contained flammable solvent molecules. However, the overall electrolyte, known as Solvent-Anchored non-Flammable Electrolyte (SAFE), proved non-flammable at high temperatures during tests in a lithium-ion battery.

SAFE works because the solvents and salt work together. The solvent molecules help conduct ions, resulting in performance comparable to that of batteries containing conventional electrolytes. But, instead of failing at high temperatures like most lithium-ion batteries, batteries containing SAFE continue to operate at temperatures between 77–212 degrees F.

Meanwhile, the ample added salts act as anchors for the solvent molecules, preventing them from evaporating and catching fire.

Gooey electrolyte

Polymer-based electrolytes can be solid or liquid. Importantly, the solvents and salt in SAFE plasticize its polymer matrix to make it a goo-like liquid, just like conventional electrolytes.

According to the researchers, a gooey electrolyte can fit into existing, commercially available lithium-ion battery parts, unlike other non-flammable electrolytes that have emerged. Solid-state ceramic electrolytes, for example, must use specially designed electrodes, making them costly to produce.

“With SAFE there’s no need to change any of the manufacturing setups,” Huang said. “Of course, if it is ever used for production there are optimizations needed for the electrolyte to fit into the production line, but the work is a lot less than any of the other systems.”

The scientist and her colleagues believe that one application of SAFE may be in electric cars.

They explain that if the multiple lithium-ion batteries in an electric car sit too close together, they can heat each other up, which could eventually lead to overheating and fire. But, if an electric car contains batteries filled with an electrolyte like SAFE that is stable at high temperatures, its batteries can be packed close together without the worry of overheating.

In addition to mitigating fire risk, this means less space occupied by cooling systems and more space for batteries. More batteries increase the overall energy density, meaning the car could go longer between charging.

“So it’s not just a safety benefit,” said Huang. “This electrolyte could also allow you to pack in a lot more batteries.”

New synthesis method enhances the electrochemical performance of lithium sulfur batteries

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KEAI COMMUNICATIONS CO., LTD.

 

IMAGE: THE BIFUNCTIONAL EFFECT OF GRAPEVINE-LIKE HIGH ENTROPY OXIDE COMPOSITES ON LITHIUM POLYSULFIDES view more 

CREDIT: ZHENGZHOU UNIVERSITY, CHINA

The high energy and low cost features of lithium sulfur batteries (LSBs) have seen them become a promising energy storage technology for energy-intensive applications, such as portable devices and electric vehicles.

However, their commercial applicability is hampered by hysteretic electrode reaction kinetics and the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (the diffusion back and forth of polysulfide between anode and cathode).

In a study published in the KeAi journal Green Energy & Environment, a group of researchers from China describe a bifunctional high entropy metal oxide/carbon nanofibers (HEO/CNFs) interlayer they have designed via a simple electrospinning approach for LSBs.

Dr. Yongzhu Fu, a professor at Zhengzhou University in China, explains: “The combination of polar metal oxide and high entropy-induced chemisorption effect can effectively reduce the shuttle and loss of polysulfides in the cathode side. In view of these advantages, designing an efficient and characteristic high entropy metal oxides interlayer is advantageous for LSBs.”

Huarong Fan, a postgraduate student at Zhengzhou University, came up with the new method of synthesis and, according to Dr. Xin Wang, a professor at Zhengzhou University, the reason it works so well is because “the CNFs with highly porous networks provide transport pathways for Li+ and e−, as well as a physical sieve effect to limit lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) crossover. In particular, the grapevine-like HEO nanoparticles generate metal-sulfur bonds with LiPSs, efficiently anchoring active materials.”

The unique structure and function of the interlayer give the LSBs superior electrochemical performance, i.e., the high specific capacity of 1381 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and 561 mAh g−1 at 6 C.

According to Prof. Wang, “this work not only establishes an effective way to prepare HEO interlayers for LSBs, but also contributes to the advancement of high entropy materials.”

###

Contact the corresponding author: Xin Wang, wangxin0620@zzu.edu.cn

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 100 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

---

JOURNAL

Green Energy & Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.gee.2022.11.001 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Grapevine-like high entropy oxide composites boost high-performance lithium sulfur batteries as bifunctional interlayers

TARIFFS FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN

US floats new steel, aluminum tariffs based on carbon emissions

Reuters | December 7, 2022 | 

Pouring molten metal into a metallurgical electric arc furnace. Credit: Adobe Stock

US officials are proposing to levy tariffs on steel and aluminum based on how much carbon the producing country’s industries emit, in a bid to fight climate change and “dirty” metals made in China and elsewhere, two people familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.


The proposal from the US Trade Representative’s office to be negotiated with the European Union would create a “club” of countries seeking to reduce carbon emissions. The plan would set pollution standards in the production of steel and aluminum.

Countries with emissions exceeding the standards would pay higher tariffs when exporting metals to countries with lower emissions, the sources briefed on the plans said. Countries with steel and aluminum plant emissions at or below the standards would pay lower tariffs, the sources said.

The proposal, which is now being shared with industry and EU officials, has grown out of US-EU discussions on “green” steel production over the past year after Washington agreed to eliminate tariffs on EU-produced steel and aluminum in exchange for a quota system.

US steelmakers claim to have the world’s lowest carbon emissions levels, in part because 70% of American steel is made from scrap iron in electric-arc furnaces rather than coal-fired blast furnaces. Steelmakers elsewhere, including in Europe, rely more heavily on coal, and the plan would be advantageous to US producers.

The US-EU talks on low-carbon steel have been aimed in large part at China, which relies on coal for most of its steel output as well as low-grade iron ore that contributes to high carbon emissions.

If implemented, the plan would provide new grounds for excluding Chinese steel from Western markets. Most US tariffs are currently based on anti-dumping laws to combat pricing below production costs, laws aimed at combating unfair government subsidies or laws aimed at safeguarding strategic industries.

“There would be an advantage of being in the club, as it would provide a lower level of carbon tariffs, while countries outside the club would pay higher tariffs,” one of the sources said, adding that the proposal aimed to incentivize investments to reduce emissions.

“This is all very conceptual and there’s a lot of work ahead on this. The details are going to be very important.”

A spokesperson for USTR did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the plan.

By David Lawder; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

WTO says Trump’s metals tariffs broke rules as US rejects findings

RULES DO NOT APPLY TO U$
Bloomberg News | December 9, 2022 | 

Donald Trump (Photo by Michael Vadon, Wikimedia Commons)

The US violated international trade rules when it imposed steel and aluminum tariffs under former President Donald Trump, the World Trade Organization said, a decision Washington rejected and stated won’t lead to a removal of the duties.


The 25% tariffs on global steel imports and 10% import taxes on global aluminum, which Trump imposed on national-security grounds, violated basic WTO rules, a dispute-settlement panel said in a series of rulings published Friday.

The WTO panel said US national-security claims “are not justified” because they were not “taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations.”

The US “strongly rejected the flawed interpretation and conclusions” in the report and will not remove its duties as a result of the rulings, Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the US Trade Representative, said in a statement.

Policy rebuke

The panel of three trade experts sided with China, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey and encouraged the US to bring its measures in line with its WTO obligations. It was a rebuke of a policy that fell under the banner of Trump’s “America First” political slogan.

The ruling is unlikely to have much impact on American metal producers because the US can effectively veto it by lodging an appeal at any point in the next 60 days. WTO appeals cannot currently be heard, because the US paralyzed the appellate body in 2019.

“The WTO has proven ineffective at stopping severe and persistent non-market excess capacity from the PRC and others that is an existential threat to market-oriented steel and aluminum sectors and a threat to US national security,” Hodge said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“The WTO now suggests that the United States too must stand idly by. The United States will not cede decision-making over its essential security to WTO panels,” he said. “We do not intend to remove the Section 232 duties as a result of these disputes.”

In separate statements, United Steelworkers and the American Iron and Steel Institute both said the WTO overstepped its mandate and called on the Biden administration to maintain the tariffs.

Trump-era tariffs

The Trump-era tariffs date back to 2018 when China, the European Union, Turkey and a half-dozen nations — Canada, India, Mexico, Norway, Russia, and Switzerland — lodged concurrent disputes at the WTO that argued the measures violated their basic WTO rights. Two related disputes launched by Russia and India remain pending.

The EU and a handful of other nations initially retaliated with tariffs against US exports worth billions of dollars but Brussels Canada and Mexico have since withdrawn their tariffs and suspended their WTO disputes following bilateral negotiations with the US.

National-security case

The WTO ruling is noteworthy because it dismissed the US argument that the WTO could not mediate trade measures that are necessary to protect America’s sovereign security interests.

The US said its measures were exempt from WTO oversight due to an exception to the WTO rulebook that allows governments to take “any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests.”

The WTO has long sought to avoid litigating matters of national security out of respect for countries’ sovereign decisions, and western trade policy has shifted since the case arose.

The US and European Union are said to be considering new tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum as part of a broader bid to fight carbon emissions. That’s a change from the Trump administration’s reliance on the WTO’s national-security loophole in favor of another WTO exception for trade restrictions imposed in the name of protecting the environment.

(By Bryce Baschuk)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Ex-JPMorgan gold trader found guilty in spoofing trial
Bloomberg News | December 9, 2022 |

Stock image.

Former JPMorgan Chase & Co. gold and silver trader Christopher Jordan was convicted of wire fraud affecting a financial institution by a federal jury in Chicago, the latest win for US prosecutors in their crackdown on illegal “spoofing” trades and market manipulation.


Jordan was found guilty Friday after a four-day trial in the same courthouse where two of his more senior colleagues on the JPMorgan precious-metals desk were convicted in August on spoofing-related charges for deceptive buy and sell orders. Jordan worked at the bank from 2006 to late 2009.

While his deceptive trades occurred before spoofing was made a crime in 2010, he used the same technique by placing large orders he never intended to execute and quickly canceled so he could make trades on the other side of the market, prosecutors said.

It was part of a “scheme to rig gold and silver markets in his favor,” Assistant US Attorney Lisa Beth Jennings said in her closing statement. “The spoof orders the defendant placed tricked other traders” and were intended to deceive the market about supply and demand, she said.

“We are sorely disappointed by today’s verdict,” said defense lawyer James Benjamin. “Chris Jordan is a good and honorable man who did his job in good faith.”

Jordan’s sentencing was tentatively scheduled for May, 2023.

The government has been targeting alleged market manipulation since the 2008 financial crisis, leading to convictions of traders and settlements with big banks. JPMorgan, the largest US bank, agreed to pay $920 million in 2020 to settle Justice Department spoofing allegations, by far the biggest fine by any financial institution.

Jordan worked on the JPMorgan precious-metals desk for about three years and then spent a few months in 2010 working for Credit Suisse AG. It was during 2008, 2009 and 2010 that prosecutors alleged Jordan was placing orders to buy and sell precious metals without the intent to execute the trades.

Gregg Smith, JPMorgan’s former top precious metals trader, and Michael Nowak, the desk’s chief, were convicted in August. They were found guilty of manipulating markets with bogus “spoofing” orders at the world’s largest bullion bank. A third defendant, precious-metals salesman Jeffrey Ruffo, was acquitted.

At the center of the case was a meeting between Jordan and an FBI agent in 2018, during which prosecutors argued that Jordan admitted to fraudulent trading. Defense attorneys for Jordan said their client never admitted specifically to spoofing or fraud or any other kind of illegal activity — claims that the FBI agent, Jonathan Luca, confirmed during his testimony on the witness stand.

(By Joe Deaux and Kim Chipman)

Banks have loopholes to keep financing coal, study says
Bloomberg News | December 12, 2022 

(Stock image.)

European banks still have loopholes that would allow them to continue financing coal, despite signing up to climate alliances that target net-zero emissions, according to a study by nonprofit ShareAction.


A survey of policies at 25 European banks revealed that the industry is also underreporting its support of high-carbon sectors in general, ShareAction said on Monday. The same study found that most banks aren’t measuring biodiversity risks when assessing clients and projects in which to invest. The study didn’t identify specific coal projects financed by banks.

“Banks have made promises to investors and the public – it’s time they deliver on those commitments,” Peter Uhlenbruch, director of financial sector standards at ShareAction, said in a statement.

The study comes just days after the world’s biggest climate-finance coalition, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, lost one of its biggest members. Vanguard Group Inc. said last week it would exit the GFANZ sub-alliance for asset managers, after judging the burden of meeting firm-wide climate goals too onerous.

Beyond Europe, banks have continued to finance coal projects. Banks, mostly based in China, helped coal companies raise $9.9 billion via loans and bond sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg in March. That’s more than double the $4.4 billion raised during the first three months of 2021.

ShareAction ranked banks in terms of their environmental policies across everything from climate risk, to biodiversity strategy and engagement with stakeholders. Three French banks — BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole — got the highest scores. Commerzbank of Germany, Danske Bank of Denmark and German lender DZ Bank got the lowest scores.

“While the number of banks announcing asset financing restrictions on new oil and gas fields has doubled in eight months, banks are reluctant to introduce any restrictions for new oil and gas at the corporate level,” the report found.

Even the best-performing bank, BNP, only got an overall score of 63%, meaning it “still has a long way to go,” ShareAction said. It’s urging banks to set targets that guarantee a reduction in absolute emissions in the real economy. It cited La Banque Postale’s requirement that companies publish credible transition plans and Crédit Mutuel’s comprehensive policy to phase out coal as examples of the right approach.

ShareAction also found that very few European banks are adapting their risk management to reflect the threat to ecosystems. And targets to protect natural habitats are “almost non-existent,” it said. “This is unlikely to change in the short-term as biodiversity was not a board-level priority for most banks,” it added.

(By Gautam Naik)

BRONZE AGE INDUSTRY

Gold objects found in Troy were mass-produced, travelled great distances

Staff Writer | December 11, 2022 

This pin was among the 26 gold objects from Poliochni that have been compared to objects from Troy. (Image by Christoph Schwall / Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) Vienna).

An international team of archaeologists recently discovered that gold in objects from Troy, Poliochni — a settlement on the island of Lemnos which lies roughly 60 kilometres away from Troy — and Ur in Mesopotamia have the same geographic origin and were traded over great distances.


In a paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the researchers explain that their findings are the result of using an innovative mobile laser method to analyze samples of the famous Early Bronze Age jewelry from Troy and Poliochni.

According to the group, ever since Heinrich Schliemann discovered Priam’s Treasure in Troy in 1873, the origin of the gold has been a mystery. Thanks to their new approach, however, it was possible to prove that it derived from what is known as secondary deposits such as rivers and that the gold’s chemical composition is not only identical to that of objects from the settlement of Poliochni on Lemnos and from the royal tombs in Ur in Mesopotamia, but also to that of objects from Georgia.

“This means there must have been trade links between these far-flung regions,” Ernst Pernicka, director of the University of Tübingen’s Troy project, said in a media statement.

The new method

The technique employed by Pernicka and his team is called ‘portable laser ablation system’ (pLA), which enabled them to undertake minimally invasive extraction of samples from jewelry in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The necklaces, pendants, earrings and chokers in the museum are so precious that it is not permitted to transport them to a laboratory or to undertake any examination that leaves a visible mark on the objects.

All previously available methods failed because of at least one of these constraints. By contrast, the portable laser device can be taken to the site and it melts such a small hole in the items that it cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Once the fragments were removed, Pernicka and his group investigated their composition using mass spectrometry.

Gold dust

As well as gold, historic pieces of jewelry always contain other elements such as silver, copper, zinc, palladium and platinum. Depending on the alloy, scientists can create a distinct chemical profile for the finds and use this to draw conclusions. For instance, the high concentrations of zinc, palladium and platinum in the jewelry from Troy are a clear sign that the gold used to create the pieces was washed out of a river in the form of gold dust.

The researchers were also able to show that the jewelry was mass-produced in workshops and not just as individual items. This is the only reasonable explanation, for example, for the identical amount of platinum and palladium being present in the gold disks in necklaces of the same design that were found at different sites.

In total, the team studied 61 artifacts, all originating from the Early Bronze Age between 2,500 and 2,000 BCE. This is also the period of the famous Priam’s Treasure, which Schliemann wrongly attributed to the mythical king of Troy from the Iliad.

Experts have long debated the origin of the gold from the royal tombs of Ur as well. There are no natural sources of gold in Mesopotamia so West Anatolia, which was also the site of Troy, was believed to be a possible source. “However, other quite different regions which are known to have had strong trade links with Ur, have also been considered,” Pernicka said.

Comparative archaeological studies have shown from strikingly similar items that these were used in the Early Bronze Age across a large geographic area, stretching from the Aegean to the Indus valley in what is now Pakistan: official seals and standardized weights, earrings with the same spiral patterns, gemstones such as lapis lazuli or the shimmering carnelian.

“The new archaeometric data open up a sound and global framework for our models of societies, their networks and the significance of resources around 4500 years ago,” Barbara Horejs, director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, pointed out.

Despite the good news, the precise origin of the gold of Troy could not be determined once and for all by the researchers.

“If we observe the share of trace elements in the gold from Troy, Poliochni and Ur, Bronze Age gold from Georgia correlates the closest with the stated find sites. But we still lack data and studies from other regions and from other objects to establish this assumption,” Pernicka said.

BAD CANADIAN MINER

Chilean water regulator fines Lundin subsidiary over sinkhole

Reuters | December 12, 2022 |

Water was detected in the Alcaparrosa mine tunnels. (Image by Sernageomin, Twitter).

Chile’s water regulator fined the local unit of Canadian miner Lundin around $138,000 — the maximum possible amount — due to impacts of a mysterious sinkhole that appeared near a copper deposit in late July, the agency announced on Monday.


The 118-foot-diameter (36 meter) sinkhole formed suddenly in the town of Tierra Amarilla, some 413 miles (665 km) north of the capital. The incident is also being investigated by mining and environmental regulators.

The DGA water regulator said the mining works carried out by the firm managing the Alcaparrosa Mine had caused a puncture which permanently damaged the Copiapo River aquifer – an underground geological formation that holds groundwater.

It said that Ojos del Salado – a Lundin subsidiary based in the Chile’s northern Atacama region – must present a follow-up plan within 45 days.

The company said in a statement that it has been notified of the charges and is analyzing the situation, but did not go into further detail.

Lundin owns 80% of the firm, while the remaining stake is held by Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corporation.

(By Fabian Cambero and Sarah Morland; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Peru community blocks key mining highway amid protests

Reuters | December 12, 2022 

Las Bambas mine in Peru is considered the world’s ninth-largest copper mine. Its production, however, has been curtailed by ongoing protests. 

(Image courtesy of Minera Las Bambas).

Peruvian community members blocked a key mining corridor highway near the city of Cusco amid protests against the country’s new president, who took office just last week, a source close to the Las Bambas mine said on Monday.


The impact of the protest on production at the mine was not immediately known, but previous blockades this year at Las Bambas, one of the world’s largest copper mines and owned by China’s MMG Ltd, severely disrupted operations.

Protests around the country have been ongoing since President Dina Boluarte took office last week, with some pockets of protesters demanding the closure of Congress and early elections after former President Pedro Castillo was abruptly removed from office after he sought to dissolve the legislature.

An internal memo reviewed by Reuters showed that as well as the blockade outside Cusco, other roads were blocked by protesters in the Canchis province, including around the city of Sicuani.

(By Marco Aquino; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Marguerita Choy)

Low-cost, high-capacity sodium-sulphur battery expected to be gamechanger for clean energy economy

Staff Writer | December 8, 2022 | 

The authors say that storage solutions for clean energy generators can be manufactured using plentiful resources like sodium – which can be processed from seawater. (Reference image by 掬茶, Wikimedia Commons.)

An international team of researchers is hoping that a new, low-cost battery which holds four times the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries and is far cheaper to produce will significantly reduce the cost of transitioning to a decarbonized economy.


In a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials, the scientists explain that the battery has been made using sodium-sulphur – a type of molten salt that can be processed from seawater – which costs much less to produce than lithium-ion.

Although sodium-sulphur (Na-S) batteries have existed for more than half a century, they have been an inferior alternative and their widespread use has been limited by low energy capacity and short life cycles.

But using a simple pyrolysis process and carbon-based electrodes to improve the reactivity of sulphur and the reversibility of reactions between sulphur and sodium, the researchers’ battery has shaken off its formerly sluggish reputation, exhibiting super-high capacity and ultra-long life at room temperature.

The team says the Na-S battery is also a more energy-dense and less toxic alternative to lithium-ion batteries which, while used extensively in electronic devices and for energy storage, are expensive to manufacture and recycle.

“Our sodium battery has the potential to dramatically reduce costs while providing four times as much storage capacity. This is a significant breakthrough for renewable energy development which, although it reduces costs in the long term, has had several financial barriers to entry,” lead researcher Shenlong Zhao, from the University of Sydney, said in a media statement. “When the sun isn’t shining and the breeze isn’t blowing, we need high-quality storage solutions that don’t cost the earth and are easily accessible on a local or regional level.”

According to Zhao, he and his team hope that by providing a technology that reduces costs, the clean energy economy gets closer to becoming a reality.

“It probably goes without saying but the faster we can decarbonize — the better chances we have of capping warming,” the scientist said. “Storage solutions that are manufactured using plentiful resources like sodium – which can be processed from seawater – also have the potential to guarantee greater energy security more broadly and allow more countries to join the shift towards decarbonization.”

From: All Hail

Our plastic problems are worse than you think | All Hail

Why we can’t recycle our way out of the planet’s plastic crisis.

Plastics are the lifeblood of a modern culture of speed, convenience and disposability – but we rarely stop to ask: Where does it all come from?

What a lot of people don’t realise is that 98 percent of the inputs of plastics are fossil fuels. Extracting these fossil fuels are just the start of a long chain of toxic processes involved in the lifecycle of plastic.

In the fourth episode of All Hail The Planet – a series delving into the social, economic and political forces undermining meaningful global action on climate change – Ali Rae speaks with co-executive director of Greenpeace USA, Annie Leonard; “Cancer Alley” campaigner, Sharon Lavigne; and environmental engineer; Yuyun Ismawati.