Enhanced Battery Technology (EBT) from DG Innovate is focused on the development of a family of hard carbon anode materials produced from sustainable bio-waste. The materials are primarily intended for use in sodium-ion batteries but can also be used in lithium-ion batteries.
DG Innovate’s new anode materials are the products of a disruptive technology that makes possible storage batteries with performance equal to or better than current types but at lower cost and with greatly reduced environmental impact. The batteries are suitable for use in stationary applications, such as solar and wind energy capture, and are also set to challenge the dominance of lithium-ion in batteries for electric vehicles.
DG Innovate’s patented hard-carbon anode materials are produced from a readily available form of biowaste which at present goes to landfill. Key benefits of sodium-ion batteries using the materials are:
Sodium, which is 1,000 times more plentiful than lithium, is a primary constituent of sodium-ion batteries and, unlike the highest energy density lithium-ion batteries, they require no scarce, costly, or controversial materials such as cobalt, nickel or graphite in their construction. DG Innovate’s hard-carbon anode materials can, however, also be used with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes in a lithium-ion batteries that are graphite, cobalt and nickel free.
DG Innovate’s hard-carbon anode materials are synthesised with a low energy processing technique that has minimal environmental impact and, as the biowaste used to produce them would otherwise go to landfill, the materials have negative equivalent CO2 emissions. In contrast, market-leading hard-carbon and the synthetic graphite anode materials used in lithium-ion batteries are produced by energy-intensive high-temperature treatment of either needle coke or petroleum pitch, which are themselves by-products of fossil fuel processing.
The lithium and cobalt found in most lithium-ion batteries and the lead found in lead-acid batteries are all toxic and, if released into the environment, are dangerous contaminants. In addition, natural graphite is processed into lithium-ion graphite anode material using highly toxic hydrofluoric acid which is reportedly now being found in drinking water supplies near the processing plants. Lithium-ion battery manufacture also relies on highly toxic NMP, a known cause of severe birth defects. Batteries that use DG Innovate EBT avoid all of these issues.
Because traditional battery technologies rely on scarce materials that are difficult to handle and process safely, manufacturing costs are unavoidably high and are expected to increase dramatically as the demand for batteries grows. EBT batteries rely on inexpensive materials that are in plentiful supply, thereby eliminating these critical problems.
By 2024, battery packs produced in the UK/EU will need to contain a minimum of 50% materials, rising to 70% by 2030, from the UK/EU to avoid paying a 10% tariff when exported. EBT materials are all sourced and manufactured in the UK, which supports this rule of origin requirement.
Since sodium is denser than lithium, sodium-ion batteries have traditionally been assumed to offer lower energy storage capacity than lithium-ion batteries of comparable size and weight. Prototyping around the world has shown that this is not the case. Even today sodium-ion can comfortably match LFP-lithium-ion for energy density, and LFP is now widely accepted as suitable for standard-range EVs. New manufacturing techniques continue to increase the performance of EBT batteries and DG Innovate confidently expects to take sodium-ion technology to 200 Wh/kg and beyond, allowing it to compete easily with lithium-ion.
Development of a successful advanced prototype is due for completion by the end of 2022, when the final design prototype will commence alongside construction of a pilot line during 2023. Final testing and manufacture is scheduled for 2024 with full-scale commercial sales targeted for Q1 2025.
EBT batteries that use DG Innovate hard-carbon anode materials are a key ingredient in a greener future. They open up the prospect of efficient and effective energy storage with minimal environmental impact, making renewable energy systems more flexible and reliable, while also helping to make electric vehicles truly green, using a truly sustainable feedstock that ensures availability for all humans, for all future generations.