Are Batteries the New Fast Fashion?
As the global battery market expands to meet growing energy storage needs, we face an escalating issue that resembles the fast fashion industry’s notorious throwaway culture. It is estimated that Americans throw away more than 3 billion batteries yearly, totaling 180,000 tons of hazardous waste. This situation brings many concerns to the forefront, necessitating the reevaluation of our battery culture.
The era of batteries resembling “fast fashion” is marked by a hurried push to manufacture batteries at a progressively accelerated rate, often neglecting long-term sustainability and environmental factors. Similar to the fashion industry’s creation of disposable, budget-friendly clothing meant for short-term use, the energy storage sector has witnessed a surge in the swift production of batteries with restricted lifespans.
Reactive: Recycling
While the notion of a circular economy, involving the recycling and reuse of materials, including batteries, is innovative, wouldn’t it be more effective to eliminate this reactive approach and prevent the need?
Prolonging the durability of batteries plays a crucial role in tackling the urgent issues linked to our disposable battery culture and its harmful environmental consequences. Batteries with extended lifespans, like Lithium Titanate (LTO), substantially diminish the environmental impact of batteries. By reducing the frequency of battery replacements, fewer batteries are discarded, contributing to an overall reduction in the environmental effects related to battery resource consumption, production, and disposal.
While recycling remains crucial for mitigating the environmental impact of battery waste, the industry requires solutions that substantially minimize or delay the need for recycling from the outset. An appealing alternative would be to explore the utilization of batteries with extended lifespans.
Proactive: Longer Lifespans
While recycling contributes to addressing battery waste to some degree, a more effective solution involves averting waste from the start by reducing the necessity for recycling altogether. Achieving this goal is possible through the development of batteries with extended lifespans.
Extending the lifespan of batteries helps address the pressing concerns associated with our battery throwaway culture and its detrimental environmental effects. Longer-lasting batteries, such as Lithium Titanate (LTO), significantly reduce the environmental footprint of batteries. Fewer batteries are disposed of by minimizing the frequency of battery replacements to help reduce the overall environmental impact associated with battery resource consumption, production, and disposal.
Preserving resources is an essential element of enhancing battery longevity. Extending the lifespan of batteries contributes to the conservation of finite resources. The United States Geological Survey’s 2022 list identifies aluminum, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite as critical minerals, emphasizing the substantial significance of these resources for national security and the U.S. economy.
Increased battery life prolongs the utility of electronic devices, lessening the turnover of such devices and diminishing the waste generated by outdated or discarded electronics. This presents an economic advantage to consumers by enhancing the cost-effectiveness of products over time. In vital applications such as medical devices or emergency equipment, batteries with extended lifespans contribute to fewer disruptions and enhanced patient safety.
While recycling efforts and longer-lasting batteries contribute to slowing down the battery throwaway culture, facilitating easy and swift adoption of innovative technologies is equally pivotal in shaping a more sustainable and efficient future in the battery space. Longer-lasting battery concepts are out there, but many face the challenge of real-world integration.
That where new battery operating systems come in.
Battery Chemistries Unlocked
In facilitating the incorporation of batteries with extended lifespans into tangible, real-world products, battery manufacturers are currently harnessing new innovative battery operating systems to swiftly unleash the potential of chemistries that were previously constrained.
Much like how PC and mobile device operating systems enable multiple apps to work together seamlessly and simultaneously, new battery operating systems work alongside various battery types to assist with consumer product integration.
New and improved battery operating systems function as the cohesive element that facilitates the incorporation of various battery chemistries and energy delivery systems. Innovative battery operating systems digitally regulate battery voltage throughout charge and discharge, allowing any distinct battery chemistry to emulate the traits of traditional lithium-ion batteries. This challenges the perception that only specific lithium-ion chemistries are suitable for consumer products.
This adaptability is crucial in overcoming the challenge of the lower operating voltage of some chemistries; it also opens up avenues for batteries with extended life, rapid charging, low-temperature operation, and wide state-of-charge range.
The introduction of advanced battery operating systems plays a pivotal role in bridging cutting-edge technologies with widespread commercial acceptance. This creates avenues for various battery chemistries to enter the market for powering devices, offering consumers extended battery life and diminishing the necessity for extensive recycling.
Remember floppy disks and the headaches associated with downloading new computer programs and operating systems? Nowadays, we can download an app with a click of a button. That will soon be the reality of integrating different battery types into products. The process is about to get much simpler and quicker with the help of new battery operating systems.
Charlie Welch is the CEO and Co-founder of ZapBatt, a battery provider for various markets, including mobility, small infrastructure, and consumer products. As an aerospace engineer, Charlie Welch was a lead researcher at defense and technology companies testing and optimizing a variety of battery chemistries.
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Are Batteries the New Fast Fashion?
