Low-Cost Battery Alternatives

Innovation is bringing us new hope

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have broken ground on a low-cost battery alternative. Essentially positioned as an energy storage system, the innovation may offer a pathway "for energy storage to be embedded into concrete, creating the potential for roads and buildings that charge electric devices."

While lithium-ion car batteries have become popular due to their high energy density, there are many concerns that come with them such as the cost to produce and the limited availability of resources like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. MIT claims that its battery alternative can be produced cheaply with materials that are readily available—"the most-used manmade material in the world, cement, combined with carbon black, which is a well-known historical material."

It is clear that MIT's battery alternative has big implications for renewable energy and the auto industry.