Here's the new kid on the block, Aqua Metals Inc. (AQMS), a company that may be on the verge of joining this list of disruptive elite to become the first and only company that has the technological capacity to reinvent the lead-acid recycling industry. As far as Aqua Metals is concerned, smelting, the environmentally poisonous method of recycling lead from used and discarded batteries, should be a thing of the past. With the patent-pending AquaRefining method, not only is the company's method a technological breakthrough, it is one that can be quickly endorsed and sponsored by both lawmakers and environmentalists alike. Even legislators supported by the fat wallet lobbyists will have a hard
Lithium-ion batteries are best positioned to meet the demand for energy storage over the next five to 10 years, but in the long run, other battery storage technologies will be needed for long-term energy storage and larger- scale applications. That’s the word from Lux Research, which recently outlined up-and-coming battery storage technologies in a teleconference. Right now, the need for storage is prompted by the growing use of renewable energy on the grid, said Chris Robinson, an analyst for Lux. The amount of wind and solar on the grid has doubled, he said. Half the electricity added last year was wind or solar, driven largely by cost reductions. “Even just in the last 15 years, we have s
You know those Final Destination movies? Those movies revolve around these absurdly improbable and convoluted Rube Goldbergian accidents that kill off the main characters. That’s sort of how the recent increase in car batteries seems–the result of a starting circumstance that probably wouldn’t make you think of car batteries. In this case, it’s warmer winters. Here’s what’s happening. Thanks to recent winters being the warmest on record, less car batteries are dying from the cold. That sounds like good news, right? Batteries are lasting longer! The problem is that the lead-acid battery industry relies on recycling the lead from old batteries to make new ones. In fact, according to Reuters, n
Swedish start-up Northvolt, which is run by two former Tesla Motors executives, plans to build a huge lithium-ion battery factory in the Nordic region, giving Tesla and Panasonic's Nevada Gigafactory a close rival within Europe in terms of size. The Stockholm-based company’s website reveals plans for what will be Europe’s largest battery factory, standing at more than 32GWh divided into four blocks of 8GWh capacity and needing more than €4 billion investment. The site will require 500,000m2 of land - roughly equivalent to nine football pitches - but the firm is still looking for a suitable location with hopes for making a decision by the middle of the year. Northvolt claims the project will
read more about this machine on the telegraph.com
Two former Tesla executives are aiming to set up Europe’s first big battery factory in an attempt to rival Asian manufacturers that dominate the industry as the fight to power electric cars heats up. Peter Carlsson, a Swede who was the former supply chain head for Tesla until 2015, will on Tuesday announce plans to set up a $4bn factory in the Nordic countries, using in part metals mined in the region. read the full article at the financialtimes here: https://www.ft.com/content/29e1e89e-0273-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9
Energy storage could boost renewables if the country's government follows through with major power market reforms. Despite another banner year for renewables growth in China, the country’s grid is still struggling to bring clean electricity to consumers. The problem is so serious in China’s north and west that turbines were forced to sit idle for much of 2016. In response, China’s policymakers are now turning to energy storage to boost the grid’s ability to accommodate wind and solar power.But significantly increasing the share of renewables will require big changes in how China operates the grid, raising questions about how much of a role energy storage will play in ensuring that renewable
