The importance of sodium: salt of the earth batteries

As the world wrestles with its decarbonisation goals, including boosting renewable power penetration, battery storage is becoming increasingly vital— from residential to commercial-scale projects. Sodium-based cells are an ideal alternative to other technologies due to their potential to be cheaper, more sustainable, and safer; but how long before manufacturers and developers realise and unlock sodium’s potential, Paul Crompton asks?

Initially developed alongside lithium-ion in the 1970-80s, sodium-ion batteries were overlooked in part due to their poor specific capacity and bad cycling stability. 

But things are changing with firms developing batteries that perform better— especially . . .