The use of batteries in the world is nothing new: batteries have flooded our daily lives for decades. Since the 2000s, researchers have been developing batteries for increasingly energy-intensive and daily uses. Certainly the most symbolic example concerns connected devices, smartphones for example. This is followed by the uses of the Internet of Things, for example, a sector where connected devices are more and more numerous, more and more reduced, hence the need for specific batteries. Another example: drones. Whether they are used for leisure or for professional use, particularly in agriculture, these devices require batteries with a weight/autonomy ratio that will decide the quality and efficiency of the product.
Finally, last example, transport: it is this sector, generator of a colossal quantity of greenhouse gases, which boosts research on new generation batteries. Because today, it is the lithium-ion battery which is used in a very majority way, for two reasons: the first, it is that these batteries have been developed for a long time and that the technological aspects of these devices are mastered, mature industrially. The second is that lithium-ion batteries are still being improved today, which makes them extremely competitive even today.
Faced with the overwhelming Chinese domination in the field of batteries, Europe has decided to react by developing, by 2030 according to the stated objectives, a real European industrial sector of the battery. An ambition consistent with the ambitions of the old continent in terms of electric mobility, but a real challenge, when we know the lead taken by China in this field, and when we know the few resources in materials composing the batteries existing in Europe … and the need to import these materials on a massive scale, particularly from China.
To overcome these constraints, particularly in terms of resources, several solutions are envisaged. On the European side, the lack of material resources forces us to innovate. As well as the issues related to the energy transition. Thus, the old continent wants to develop a battery production sector in which the reuse of materials will be the rule, bringing battery recycling to an industrial scale. An idea consistent with the energy constraints to come, but a decision that will probably slow down Europe’s immediate competitiveness in an ultra-competitive market.
Another solution is to develop batteries using innovative materials, which would make it possible to get out of the current dependence on lithium, nickel, cobalt… research and development centers around the world are now working to develop these new batteries, but this requires time, especially to reach the level of performance of current batteries.