admiralty update ann, page-50

Rubbish. Anyone doing a google on lithium will find that using this element is the technology focus for battery research at this time. Other elements such as cobalt, boron, manganese are all adjuncts to Lithium.

matrix, if you know soon much how about this, how naming some "competing technologies" and what elements they use?

For sheer weight/power density, Lithium is hard to top. The research you are describing sounds more along the lines of the electrodes required and chances are these will probably use REE's to extent battery life and enhance power/density even more.

Other research is years away from even approaching Lithium, so its stands to reason that unless there is a sudden major breakthrough, i.e. cheap, high power density, easily manufactured and robust batteries using something other than Lithium, then Lithium will be the element of choice. At this time Lithium is also not ready for hybrid cars, but as pointed out above, this is where the majority of the research is being done at the moment.