The information: One of many main firms providing alternate options to lithium batteries for the grid has simply obtained a virtually $400 million mortgage from the US Division of Power. Eos Power makes zinc-halide batteries, which the agency hopes might sooner or later be used to retailer renewable power at a decrease value than is feasible with current lithium-ion batteries.
What they’re manufactured from: Eos’s batteries are primarily created from zinc, the fourth most produced steel on the earth, and use a water-based electrolyte (the liquid that strikes cost round in a battery) as a substitute of natural solvent. This makes them extra secure than lithium-ion cells, and means they gained’t catch fireplace.
Why it issues: Whereas the price of lithium-ion batteries has plummeted over the previous decade, there’s a rising want for even cheaper choices. The zinc-based expertise Eos hopes to commercialize might retailer electrical energy for hours and even days at low value. Learn the total story.
—Casey Crownhart
How water might make safer batteries
Batteries’ electrolytes dictate quite a bit about how they work, in addition to how secure they’re. A rising variety of various battery makers are turning to an attention-grabbing ingredient to make use of of their electrolyte to decrease the danger of them catching fireplace: water.
Casey has dug additional into the fascinating expertise behind various batteries within the newest version of The Spark, her weekly local weather e-newsletter. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
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