What are the benefits of a lithium ion battery? What are the challenges to its wide-spread usage? What can be done to overcome these challenges?

The lithium ion battery in the past few years has become the preferred mode for storing energy, finding usage in handheld devices like your smartphones, laptops to Electric vehicles, power plants and various other applications.

Its importance in policy making has increased due to the ‘EV revolution’, which is primarily based upon better energy storage technologies.

Benefits:

• Higher energy density.
• Smaller size and lighter weight.
• Affordability.
• Quicker charging.
• Multiple charge cycles.

Reasons behind its increasing usage:

• The need for sustainable development.
• Increasing digitisation.
• Increase in electronic devices.
• Growth in the EV sector.

Challenges:

• Safety issues related to fire hazards caused by lithium ion batteries.
• Limited availability of lithium and other raw materials.
• Lesson recycling.
• Issues related to environmental sustainability.

Way forward:

• Recycling is the key.
• Extended producer responsibility.
• Incentive for recycling.
• Development of a circular economy.

Strong collaboration among technologists, policymakers and governments is required to help manage the ‘EV revolution’ that is based on a growing lithium ion battery sector.