lead-acid batteries

China promotes ‘eco’ lead batteries plan with illegal recycling crackdown

China is to crack down on illegal lead recycling and launch a “traceability system” to promote advances in lead battery development as a “backbone” national industry.

The environment ministry said the government wants to “promote the standardised and orderly development of lead storage battery production and lead recycling”.

The ministry’s ‘action plan’— which has been seen by BEST Battery Briefing— said lead battery manufacturers will be encouraged to develop “ecological designs” for new batteries and to “increase the proportion of recycled raw materials” used in production.

china

asia

lead-acid batteries

battery recycling

ila

battery disposal

ABC Crowns bipolar licensing with sixth deal

US deep-cycle lead firm Crown Battery Manufacturing has acquired licensing rights to Advanced Battery Concepts’ (ABC) bipolar lead-acid technology— strengthening its support for the company.

The agreement is ABC’s sixth GreenSeal technology licensing deal and comes less than two years after Crown president Hal Hawk made an undisclosed investment in ABC.

Hawk said the licensing rights “will allow us to decide how best to use it in our market space”.

Crown

advanced battery concepts

Greenseal

lead-acid batteries

licensing

‘Lead to power ahead for years to come’, say analysts

Automotive lead battery demand is in a “state of flux”, but market analysts have warned: “Don’t be too hasty in writing off the humble lead car battery”.

Lead-acid is “increasingly under threat from new battery technologies”, according to metal and materials research consultancy Wood Mackenzie in its 2019 lead outlook.

But the world is yet to see the peak production of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, “and there are new developments in this old technology intended to keep it competitive and relevant for many more years”, the outlook said.

JCI and Toshiba to work on lead-lithium dual-battery systems

Johnson Controls International’s (JCI) soon-to-be-sold Power Solutions business, is joining forces with Toshiba to manufacture lithium-ion batteries that will be “paired” with lead-acid battery technology as part of dual-battery systems for carmakers.

JCI, which has agreed to sell Power Solutions to US and Canadian investment firms, said the partners will develop and make the lithium-ion batteries at JCI’s Holland plant in Michigan.

battery manufacturing

Joint Venture (JV)

hybrid batteries

Former EPA chief to chair electrolyte tech advisory board for Tydrolyte

The former head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Stephen Johnson is to chair the advisory board of novel electrolyte technology company Tydrolyte.

Tydrolyte said the newly-formed advisory board would support the company in its “mission to replace toxic sulfuric acid in the US$40 billion-dollar lead battery market with a better performing, non-toxic substitute”.

Gravita confirms lead processing expansion in Africa

Indian lead producer and exporter Gravita has confirmed plans to expand its lead-acid battery scrap processing operations overseas with two new facilities in Africa.

Gravita said it has acquired land for a plant in Ghana and “construction activities are in process” with a view to starting operations by March 2019.

Enersys powers into telecoms with Alpha Technologies deal

Lead-acid battery maker Enersys is to acquire the US-based Alpha Technologies in a US$750 million deal to create “the only complete power solution provider for broadband, telecom and energy storage systems”.

Enersys said it had entered into an agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares and certain assets of select entities belonging to the Alpha Technologies group of companies.

Mergers & Acquisitions

us

ALABC joins Argonne Lab for next-gen lead batteries study

Lead-acid battery technology is to undergo a “high-tech makeover” under a research agreement between members of the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

Fourteen ALABC members have signed up for the science programme, which Argonne said would focus the lab’s “resources and expertise on improving the performance of lead batteries, to assist the industry in meeting market demands for existing applications and for new applications”.

The nine full members of the programme include Crown Battery Manufacturing Company, Doe Run Resources Corporation, East Penn Manufacturing Company, EnerSys, Exide Technologies, Johnson Controls, NorthStar Battery Company, RSR Technologies and the Trojan Battery Company. The five associate members are Superior Graphite, Microporous, Cabot Corporation, Borregard Lignotech and Advanced Battery Concepts.

Crown Battery Manufacturing Company

Doe Run Resources Corporation

East Penn Manufacturing Company

enersys

Exide technologies

johnson controls

NorthStar Battery Company

RSR Technologies

Trojan Battery Company

EU red tape ‘risks exporting battery jobs’, ILA warns

Thousands of battery jobs risk being axed in Europe and ‘exported’ to overseas competitors as a result of unnecessary and restrictive legislation, lead-acid industry bosses have warned.

A European Commission proposal for an “in-effect ban” on the use of four chemical compounds, mainly used in the manufacture of lead batteries, is still on the table, the head of the International Lead Association (ILA) Dr Andy Bush has warned.

International Lead Association (ILA)

GS Yuasa backs Thai lead-acid boost

Thailand’s Siam GS Battery is reportedly preparing to ramp up lead-acid battery production to meet increasing demand at home and across Southeast Asia.

Siam GS, a joint venture between majority partner, Japan lead-acid firm GS Yuasa Corporation and Thailand’s Siam Motors, is investing around $30 million in the expansion, according to the Bangkok Post.