More positive news today helping to tune that radio that is the...

More positive news today helping to  tune that radio that is the public ‘bandwidth’  to stations beyond lithium.

Happily the stock head author, Nadine McGrath,  has with Vanadium the first pick for the “beyond” section in the story below.

cheers

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bu...s/news-story/848178fa4b638eb90aefad1d4dbb2c1e


Lithium and Beyond: What lies ahead for battery tech and the ASX stocks pushing the boundaries


Battery tech is charging forward! Picture: iStock

• By NADINE MCGRATH
• STOCK HEAD
• 8:32AM JULY 25, 2023

As the world transitions to net-zero, battery technology is seen as critically important in the pursuit of renewable energy.
Increased battery capacity is set to play a vital role in bolstering grid-scale capabilities, providing energy for residential and commercial use, while facilitating the electrification of transportation.
A significant need for energy storage to accompany widespread adoption of solar power in households, businesses, and industries will also pump up demand for battery technology.

According to Future Batteries Industries, global battery demand is now forecast to grow at 34 per cent a year to 2030, increasing 18-fold on 2020 levels, compared to the previous forecast of a nine to 10-fold increase.
“The revised demand projection can be attributed to increased adoption of electric vehicles and stationary storage, and a global acceleration in the energy transition,” the organisation said in its Charging Ahead report.
Lithium dominates battery composition

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2022 lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) remained the dominant battery chemistry, with a market share of 60 per cent.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) had just under 30 per cent, while nickel cobalt aluminium oxide (NCA) had a share of around 8 per cent.
The IEC said lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode chemistries had reached their highest share in the past decade, driven by the preferences of Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Now for a quick chemistry 101. According to the IEA, LFP batteries differ from other chemistries by using iron and phosphorus instead of the nickel, manganese, and cobalt found in NCA and NMC batteries.
However, they have a lower energy density compared to NMC batteries.
The IEA said another drawback of LFP batteries was their phosphorus content, as the mineral also is needed elsewhere for food production.
If all batteries were LFP, they would account for nearly 1 per cent of current agricultural phosphorus, which the IEC said could potentially lead to conflicting demands for phosphorus as battery demand grew.
However, the world’s biggest electric car maker Tesla is a proponent of LFP batteries, with its CEO Elon Musk saying earlier this year “the vast majority of the heavy lifting for electrification will be iron-based cells”.

What will make up future battery composition?

The mineral vanadium, commonly used as a steel additive, has emerged as another battery material.
Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) employ liquid tanks containing charged vanadium electrolytes to generate and store energy.
Among benefits, flow batteries do not deteriorate with each use, enabling them to provide energy over an extended duration, are non-flammable and do not pose the risk of explosions.

READ: Vanadium use in redox flow batteries is on the rise – these are the Aussie stocks with a horse in the race

Alternative battery options such as sodium-ion (Na-ion) are also emerging. Na-ion batteries offer cost advantages due to lower-cost materials and eliminate the need for critical minerals such as lithium.
China battery giant CATL has developed a Na-ion battery, which is estimated to be 20 per cent cheaper than an LFP battery because of that lack of lithium.
However, the IEA said Na-ion batteries had lower energy density (75 to 160 Wh/kg) than their Li-ion counterparts (120 to 260 Wh/kg).
Metal-air batteries are also attracting attention of researchers because of their potential for high theoretical energy densities, eco-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and safety.
Research is focusing on several potential anode candidates for metal-air batteries, including zinc, aluminium, iron, and silicon.
At Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, researchers have developed and successfully lab-tested a novel titanium-air battery in co-operation with researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
And Bill Gates has invested big bucks in US-based Ambri, which has developed a liquid metal battery using a calcium alloy anode, a molten salt electrolyte, and a cathode consisting of solid antimony particles.
According to Ambri the antimony-based battery boasts a lifetime double that of lithium batteries, demonstrate minimal capacity loss over a 20-year operational period and offer a grid-scale storage system for solar and wind energy.