What to do if we can t make a breakthrough in battery technology

Can batteries unlock other energy technologies?

Batteries can unlock other energy technologies, and they’re starting to make their mark on the grid. This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review ’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Batteries are on my mind this week. (Aren’t they always?)

How difficult is it to develop better batteries?

One difficult thing about developing better batteries is that the technology is still poorly understood. Changing one part of a battery—say, by introducing a new electrode—can produce unforeseen problems, some of which can’t be detected without years of testing.

Are batteries getting better at recycling?

We have an in-depth explainer on current and future battery recycling technology here if you want the deep dive, but at a high level, there are a few ways that batteries are getting better at being recyclable. First again comes machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Can a broken battery make a better battery?

But if indeed a battery is broken down into little pieces like that, the resulting mess can actually give birth to better batteries. "The black mass, when it's refined, is better than using virgin material," Brian Skalovsky, director of battery recycling at Cox Automotive Mobility EV Battery Solutions, told us.

Why are commercial batteries so difficult to develop?

While countless breakthroughs have been announced over the last decade, time and again these advances failed to translate into commercial batteries. One difficult thing about developing better batteries is that the technology is still poorly understood.

Will batteries clean up the grid?

Batteries won’t be the magic miracle technology that cleans up the entire grid. Other sources of low-carbon energy that are more consistently available, like geothermal, or able to ramp up and down to meet demand, like hydropower, will be crucial parts of the energy system.