EDITORIAL

Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

In defence of lead

Lead conferences have become a vital staple of the battery industry. We come to listen, to network, to do business and quite often as an addendum to the Asian Battery Conference to have an interesting time at an interesting venue. This year travel restrictions around the pandemic have denied us the venue, but not the benefits of a successful conference. The networking will be more limited and the gala night — remember the sensational one in Bali? — won’t happen, but we will come away refreshed, stimulated and hopefully with a fire in our belly to fight our defence of the lead battery. One of the sub texts in the conference organizers’ thinking has been letting people know how we plan to fight off the challenge of lithium batteries. There are three prongs to this theme. The first is technological progress. This year’s ABC will again look at the rapid advances being made in taking lead battery technology to the next level. We’re going to hear talk about the various projects that have been undertaken in the past two years to make batteries yet better. And this won’t be visionary nonsense culled from the fetid imaginations of start-up firms’ PR departments. But concrete advances, new insights into our understanding of the electrochemical mechanisms within lead battery storage. The second prong is communication. We’ll also be hearing from bodies such as the CBI about how they are explaining some of their exciting projects to key OEMs. We should hear more too about the communication campaigns from trade organizations such as ILA and BCI. The third prong is coming from an unusual part of the business. One lead battery manufacturer is working on a lead-lithium hybrid. We all know, that — without exception — every lead battery manufacturer of any size or repute has for years been building up their capabilities in making lithium batteries. Yes, the bulk of lithium sales is coming from Asia but I doubt if there’s not a single lead battery manufacturer outside of the region that is not already making lithium cells or has freshly finalized plans to do so. So all credit for GS Yuasa for finding another line of defence for lead batteries. In one of the closing presentations Peter Stevenson will discuss another way of keeping lead mainstream — using them as a hybrid storage project with lithium. The lithium battery part of the system does the rapid charging and discharging needed to keep a microgrid stable. The lead battery will provide long duration power. Hybrid storage systems open up a clear path for combining the strong points of lead — price, safety, recyclability — with the strengths of other chemistries. Moreover, given the wider market’s unflagging enthusiasm for all-things lithium, the mix with lead would seem an uncontroversial way for battery manufacturers to promote their lead products while tapping lithium’s performance. Unfortunately for the wider battery industry none of the major manufacturers are pursuing this approach — which is a shame. They seem to believe two things. First, they are a producer of a product and not a technology developer — a distinction which their lithium rivals seem to happily ignore. And second that in the energy storage boom years that lie ahead there will be a need for all battery chemistries. A rising tide floats all boats, they believe. And this is a shame. If we can chain a supercap to a lead battery — think the UltraBattery — why can’t we do something similar with lithium ones? You be the judge!

Mike Halls, Editor