Research Articles

Announcements of developments to alternative, next-generation, non-lithium battery chemistries, including redox flow, metal-air, or sodium-ion batteries, are now a regular occurrence. Despite interest in these alternatives, Li-ion batteries remain the dominant choice for consumer devices, electric vehicles, and stationary storage. However, the importance of non-lithium battery chemistries is expected to grow considerably over the next 10 years, especially in the stationary energy storage sector. By 2025, IDTechEx forecast that >10% of the stationary market will be accounted for by non-lithium chemistries, up from <5% in 2021.

Li-ion batteries are beginning to hit their performance ceiling, especially with regards to energy density. However, a shift in the anode materials used, namely to silicon or lithium-metal anodes, could provide a stepwise improvement to energy density. Their promise can be highlighted by looking at the high number of early-stage companies primarily developing anode materials, most being focussed on silicon, compared to other areas of Li-ion development.

Commercial interest in silicon anodes and investments into start-up companies has continued through 2021 - IDTechEx estimates that $1.9B of funding has now made its way into silicon anode start-ups. Beyond investments, there has also been greater activity regarding companies beginning to license technologies, enter into supply relationships or commercialize technologies in early adopter markets, highlighting that the promise of silicon anode technology may soon be realized.

To date, Li-ion batteries have been the go-to technology for vehicle electrification and new stationary energy storage systems. However, the supply chain for Li-ion production is coming under increasing scrutiny with bottlenecks feasible during the second half of the 2020s, creating a potential opportunity for alternative battery chemistries not reliant on lithium, cobalt, or nickel.

Energy storage technologies are undergoing a challenging transformation, vital in an emerging climate that increasingly necessitates renewable energies and recyclable hardware. Covering a wide portfolio of energy storage technologies, their history, and their outlook for the future, IDTechEx looks at how the energy storage sector has fared over the past year, and where it is headed for the next.

With the growing momentum behind the electric vehicle market comes an added importance of understanding the Li-ion batteries that power them, the variety of design choices available, and trends in their implementation.

The resilience of global electric vehicle (EV) sales during 2020 provided some optimism as to the maturing state of the electric vehicle market. However, sales are still primarily underpinned by government policy, and improvements in cost and performance to Li-ion cells and packs, not to forget other aspects of the vehicle or grid infrastructure, are needed for widespread adoption.

Limits on the amount of bioethanol and biodiesel that can be blended with conventional fossil fuels mean growth in the consumption of certain biofuels has slowed considerably over the past 5 years. However, with CO2 targets becoming increasingly stringent, and some sectors being difficult to electrify, alternative fuels are likely to still be needed over the coming years.

In this article IDTechEx provides commentary on the reference during Volkswagen's recent Power Day to their long-term strategy of employing high-manganese cathodes for their 'volume segment'. What does 'high-manganese' refer to, and how do they compare to other cathode materials?

Growth in global energy consumption has caused CO2 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to rise, in turn causing an increase in average global temperatures. The combustion of fossil fuels including coal, oil, and natural gas, has been a key driver behind this, providing the underlying driver for the production and use of non-fossil alternative fuels that can help reduce emissions.

Energy storage technologies have undergone several years of sustained growth stemming from progress in markets such as consumer devices and the quest for decarbonization kick-starting growth in electric vehicle (EV) and stationary energy storage demand.

The European Commission (EC) has proposed stricter regulations regarding the sustainability of batteries.