{"id":2078,"date":"2022-06-24T12:40:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T12:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=2078"},"modified":"2022-06-24T12:40:28","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T12:40:28","slug":"salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the renewables\u2019 boom, the limiting factor of the energy revolution is not power supply as much as power storage these days. Cleaner, greener batteries are needed to charge our cars, ebikes and devices for longer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have all been there. The rectangular icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen turns red and flashes to indicate you\u2019re almost out of battery. But the problems with batteries go far beyond this kind of minor inconvenience. Batteries are a crucial part of our green energy future but also an imperfect one.<\/p>\n

In future, a large portion of our energy will come from renewable sources such as solar and wind. But there are times when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. To even out supply, we need to store the surplus electricity generated by renewables, until we are ready to consume it. One important means of doing so is with better batteries. We also need huge numbers of batteries if we are to power the envisioned fleets of electric cars and mobility devices.<\/p>\n

The trouble is, even the best batteries have problems. One big sticking point is that lithium-ion cells use lithium as a key component. This is mined as salt. Europe does not presently have any large reserves, so relies on imports from only a small number of places, such as Australia and Chile. Lithium batteries are also expensive, have a limited storage capacity, and lose performance after repeated charging.<\/p>\n

If we are to make them better, first we need to understand how they work. Traditional lithium-ion batteries have three key components. There are two solid components called electrodes \u2013 the anode and the cathode \u2013 and a liquid called the electrolyte. When the battery discharges, electrons stream out of the anode to the cathode to power whatever device it\u2019s connected to. Positive lithium ions diffuse through the electrolyte, attracted to the negative charge of the cathode. When the battery is being charged up, this goes in reverse.<\/p>\n

Energy density<\/strong><\/p>\n

The whole process is a reversible electrochemical reaction. There are many flavours of this basic process with different kinds of chemicals and ions involved. A particular option being explored by the\u00a0ASTRABAT project<\/a>\u00a0is to do away with the liquid electrolyte and make it a solid or gel instead. In theory, these solid-state batteries have a higher energy density, meaning they can power devices for longer. They should also be safer and quicker to manufacture, since, unlike typical lithium-ion batteries, they don\u2019t use a flammable liquid electrolyte.<\/p>\n

Electrochemist Dr Sophie Mailley at the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) in Grenoble, France, is the ASTRABAT project coordinator. She explains that lithium-based solid-state batteries do already exist. But such batteries use a gel as the electrolyte and only work well at temperatures of about 60 C, meaning they are unsuitable for many applications. \u2018It\u2019s clear that we need to innovate in this area to be able to face the problems of climate change,\u2019 said Dr Mailley.<\/p>\n

She and her team of partners have been working on perfecting a recipe for a better solid-state lithium battery. The job involves looking at all sorts of candidate components for the battery and working out which ones work best together. Dr Mailley says they have now identified suitable components and are working out ways to scale up manufacturing of the batteries.<\/p>\n

One question she and her team plan to investigate next is, whether it will be easier to recycle lithium and other elements from solid-state batteries compared to typical lithium-ion batteries. If it is, that could increase the recycling of lithium and to reduce dependence on imports.<\/p>\n

Dr Mailley estimates that if the research goes well, solid-state lithium batteries like the one ASTRABAT is working on could be entering commercial use in electric cars by about 2030. \u2018I don\u2019t know if it is these solid-state batteries that will be the next important battery innovation,\u2019 said Dr Mailley. \u2018There are a lot of other possible solutions, like using manganese or sodium (instead of lithium). Those might work out. But we need to continue to invest in research to validate the next generation of batteries,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Positively charged<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to storing energy for the purposes of smoothing out supply to electricity grids, batteries need be reliable and high capacity, which means expensive. Scarce lithium isn\u2019t the best choice. Instead, the\u00a0HIGREEW project<\/a>\u00a0is investigating another different kind of battery, known as a redox flow cell.<\/p>\n

The main components of redox flow batteries are two liquids, one positively charged, one negatively charged. When the battery is in use, these are pumped into a chamber known as a cell stack, where they are separated by a permeable membrane and exchange electrons \u2013 creating a current.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s co-ordinator is chemist Dr Eduardo Sanchez at CIC energiGUNE, a research centre near Bilbao in Spain. He explains that plenty of large-scale redox flow batteries are already in operation around the world and they are designed to be stable, lasting about 20 years. But these existing batteries use vanadium dissolved in sulfuric acid, which is a toxic and corrosive process. Safety requirements mean these batteries must be manufactured at great expense.<\/p>\n

\u2018Vanadium has lots of strengths \u2013 it\u2019s cheap and stable,\u2019 said Dr Sanchez. \u2018But if you have a leak from one of these batteries, that\u2019s not nice. You must design the tanks to be extremely durable.\u2019<\/p>\n

Less toxic<\/strong><\/p>\n

The HIGREEW project is planning to create a redox flow battery that uses far less toxic materials such as salt solutions in water which stores carbon-based ions.\u00a0 Sanchez and his team of colleagues have been working on developing the best recipe for this battery, screening many different combinations of salts and chemical solutions. They have now come up with a shortlist of a few prototypes that perform well and are working on scaling these up.<\/p>\n

Work on one huge prototype battery is ongoing at the CIC energiGUNE centre. \u2018We have to ensure that they maintain their good performance at scale,\u2019 said Dr Sanchez.<\/p>\n

His team have also been investigating a method of dipping commercially available battery membrane materials so as to chemically alter them, making them last longer.<\/p>\n

Dr Sanchez sees a bright future for redox flow batteries. \u2018I would say we have a bloom here in Europe, with a lot of companies working on flow batteries.\u2019 He predicts that manufacturing redox flow batteries could bring abundant employment opportunities to Europe in the coming years.<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. This article was originally published\u202f<\/em>in Horizon<\/em><\/a>, the EU Research and Innovation Magazine<\/em>.\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the renewables\u2019 boom, the limiting factor of the energy revolution is not power supply as much as power storage these days. Cleaner, greener batteries are needed to charge our cars, ebikes and devices for longer. We have all been there. The rectangular icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen turns red … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":2079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,16,408],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-energy-environment","category-technology","category-transport"],"yoast_head":"\nSalt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage - Horizon Magazine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanks to the renewables\u2019 boom, the limiting factor of the energy revolution is not power supply as much as power storage these days. Cleaner, greener batteries are needed to charge our cars, ebikes and devices for longer. We have all been there. The rectangular icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen turns red ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Horizon Magazine Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/horizon.magazine.eu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-24T12:40:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Horizon Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/HorizonMagEU\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Horizon Magazine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679\"},\"headline\":\"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-24T12:40:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1118,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/jun24.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Earth, Energy & Environment\",\"Technology\",\"Transport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2022\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/\",\"name\":\"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage - Horizon Magazine Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/jun24.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-24T12:40:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/jun24.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/jun24.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Europeans will need more and better batteries to power fleets of electric cars.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/2078\\\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/\",\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine Blog\",\"description\":\"The EU Research & Innovation Magazine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/eu-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/eu-logo.jpg\",\"width\":601,\"height\":283,\"caption\":\"Horizon Magazine Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679\",\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Horizon Magazine\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/horizon.magazine.eu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/HorizonMagEU\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/author\\\/horizonmagazine\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage - Horizon Magazine Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage","og_description":"Thanks to the renewables\u2019 boom, the limiting factor of the energy revolution is not power supply as much as power storage these days. Cleaner, greener batteries are needed to charge our cars, ebikes and devices for longer. We have all been there. The rectangular icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen turns red ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/","og_site_name":"Horizon Magazine Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/horizon.magazine.eu","article_published_time":"2022-06-24T12:40:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Horizon Magazine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/HorizonMagEU","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Horizon Magazine","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/"},"author":{"name":"Horizon Magazine","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/person\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679"},"headline":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage","datePublished":"2022-06-24T12:40:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/"},"wordCount":1118,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg","articleSection":["Earth, Energy & Environment","Technology","Transport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2022","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/","name":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage - Horizon Magazine Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg","datePublished":"2022-06-24T12:40:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Europeans will need more and better batteries to power fleets of electric cars."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/","name":"Horizon Magazine Blog","description":"The EU Research & Innovation Magazine","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#organization","name":"Horizon Magazine Blog","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/eu-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/eu-logo.jpg","width":601,"height":283,"caption":"Horizon Magazine Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/person\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679","name":"Horizon Magazine","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Horizon Magazine"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/horizon.magazine.eu","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/HorizonMagEU"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/author\/horizonmagazine\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNKV-xw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2572,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2572\/europes-battery-charge-to-power-a-green-economy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2078,"position":0},"title":"Europe\u2019s battery charge to power a green economy","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"November 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As it moves away from fossil fuels and towards climate-neutrality, the EU is placing strategic importance on the market for batteries and stepping up research in the field. By \u00a0Horizon Staff From mobile phones and kitchen appliances to computers and cars, batteries are so much a part of daily life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2737,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2737\/pass-the-salt-please-power-lies-within\/","url_meta":{"origin":2078,"position":1},"title":"Pass the salt please. Power lies within","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"April 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A new generation of batteries may bolster the EU\u2019s green ambitions. By Anthony King A green industrial future for Europe may depend on an element that is part of a household staple: table salt. Dr John Abou-Rjeily, a researcher at Tiamat Energy in France, is using sodium to develop rechargeable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1951,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/","url_meta":{"origin":2078,"position":2},"title":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"January 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Since the discovery of electricity, inventors have struggled with how to store it. Batteries emerged relatively quickly as the most common way to preserve energy chemically, but from portability to rechargeability, it has taken centuries of tweaking elemental combinations to create the batteries our modern devices depend on. Lithium-ion batteries\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2776,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2776\/the-hydropower-renaissance-in-europe\/","url_meta":{"origin":2078,"position":3},"title":"The hydropower renaissance in Europe","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"June 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The EU drive towards green energy is seeking to harness a traditionally clean power source \u2013 with some tweaks. By \u00a0Tom Cassauwers Dr Jeremy Bricker, a hydraulics and coastal engineer, is dreaming big. Somewhere on the North Sea coast, he imagines construction of a dam to manage the supply of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/3-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/3-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/3-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/3-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/3-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/3-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2166,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2166\/battery-free-smart-devices-to-harvest-ambient-energy-for-iot\/","url_meta":{"origin":2078,"position":4},"title":"Battery-free smart devices to harvest ambient energy for IoT","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"September 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Power management systems that harvest ambient energy will power billions of small devices on the Internet of Things. By\u00a0\u00a0MICHAEL ALLEN Tiny internet-connected electronic devices are becoming ubiquitous. The so-called Internet of Things (IoT) allows our smart gadgets in the home and wearable technologies like our smart watches to communicate and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ICT"","block_context":{"text":"ICT","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/ict\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/30mobile.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/30mobile.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/30mobile.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/30mobile.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/30mobile.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/30mobile.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1306,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1306\/cheaper-lighter-and-more-energy-dense-the-promise-of-lithium-sulphur-batteries\/","url_meta":{"origin":2078,"position":5},"title":"Cheaper, lighter and more energy-dense: The promise of lithium-sulphur batteries","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Rex Merrifield Lithium-sulphur batteries, which are lighter and cheaper than today\u2019s models, may be the next generation of power cells that we use in electric cars or mobile phones \u2013 if scientists can get them to last for longer. The main attraction is that they can store much more energy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scientists are working to increase the number of charging cycles a lithium-sulphur battery can go through before it fails in order to make it a realistic alternative to today\u2019s lithium-ion design. Image credit - Pxfuel, public domain","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}