Currently, an absence of superior battery technology is impeding us in achieving the goal of protecting the environment with sustainable energy initiatives.
Consequently, the target of cutting 45% emissions by 2030 set by the September’s Climate Action Summit (UN) may not be within our reach.
Now, prominent leaders like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed firm is betting high and invested $30 Million in iron-flow battery technology.
Iron-Flow batteries, also called flow batteries, store chemical energy in external tanks instead of within the battery container. It utilizes energy differences in oxidations states of metals to store and discharge energy.
The flow battery is further divided into redox flow, hybrid flow and membrane-less flow, which are named after the type of flows in the liquid electrolyte.
Defence and aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin Energy, is developing advanced flow battery and is reported to release its battery in 2020.
Besides, an India-based, Deeya Energy, is leveraging the flow technology to offer powerful energy storage platform, ESPTM, for emerging telecom applications.
Over the years, many flow companies such as Primus Power and Vionx Energy have raised funds around $106 Million and $193 Million respectively for their R&D for flow battery.
Flow batteries are not hazardous to the environment as it doesn’t contain harmful chemicals, thereby, opening up the doors for clean energy storage systems for consumer electronics and electric vehicles markets.
Although flow batteries have a lot of advantages over lithium-ion batteries, the high cost of flow batteries is causing hindrance in its adoption.
Reference- Analytics India, Futurism, Clean Technica, Science Daily
