Batteries

Net Zero Strategy : reduce 11.9% of Co2 emissions

Emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions come from passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks).

What is the problem ?

Batteries come in different sizes depending on power requirements but are primarily charged by electricity from non-renewable supplies which means that electric vehicles are not solving the problem solely by running off electricity as fossil fuels are still used to produce the electricity that is used to charge the batteries. If we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.

In order to fully electrify the whole road transport sector we must first optimise battery technologies, that is, we must improve on the distance that can be travelled between charging the battery and also vastly improve on the time it takes to charge vehicles.

There are many battery technologies but most work on the principle that energy and power densities are determined by the electrode materials in the battery. The energy density of a battery is based on how much charge a battery can hold on a single charge. The key factor in this is the amount of surface area that an electrode has available. This is not a simple matter of adding more materials to the electrode as this would add significant weight to the vehicle. The power density of a battery is calculated on the basis of how fast it takes to load charge onto the battery electrode and how fast the charge can then be unloaded for power requirements. The power density of a material is related to it’s conducting properties and the ability for charges to find space within the electrode rapidly.

How will Seeds solve this ?

Applications : Solar glass, high energy density battery electrodes, high power density supercapacitors

We are developing energy systems that bring together energy capture, primarily heat and light, with energy storage. Our materials can provide the solution to how to decarbonise the electricity used to charge batteries and also how to increase both the energy density and power density of batteries.

Seeds believe that the answer to the problem is not to revolutionise either energy capture or energy storage but rather to make significant improvements in both performances and then to efficiently pair these technologies together to provide a robust solution.