Creating sustainable batteries to power the energy transition

An €800 million programme funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund aims to stimulate the Dutch battery ecosystem and make a global impact. Moniek Tromp, Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Groningen, is the ‘front woman’ of this programme and designs and builds the batteries of the future.

It includes the development of new batteries produced through sustainable processes, using materials that are abundant and can be sourced locally. The focus is primarily on batteries that are important for the Dutch economy, such as batteries for heavy-duty vehicles, and large-scale stationary storage. In different programme lines, the consortium will also work on battery re-use and recycling.

‘Batteries are essential for the energy transition’, says Tromp. Large stationary batteries can help prevent net congestion by storing energy for later use. This also makes it possible to use green energy, such as wind and solar power, for the continuous production of green hydrogen. Batteries to power drones or electric heavy-duty vehicles are also an important part of the programme. Most of the funding will go to companies, since the programme is intended to boost the Netherlands’ economic growth potential. However, science is key to innovation, so universities are involved in all programme lines. A more fundamental science programme will kick off early next year. At the University of Groningen, approximately ten new academics (PhDs and Postdocs) will be appointed.

New chemistry

Thanks to its strong history in materials science and technology, the Netherlands can play an important role in the international battery ecosystem, Tromp explains: ‘Knowledge and expertise in the field of materials is crucial for advancing recycling, but also for the development of new battery materials and technologies.’ While the companies in the consortium focus on scaling up and bringing new technologies to the market, academics such as Tromp and her team will support the consortium with in-depth studies, offering insight into how battery components and cells work and why they fail. ‘Furthermore, knowledge institutes are crucial for taking the first innovative steps toward novel, sustainable recycling methodologies, as well as completely novel and sustainable batteries’, Tromp explains.

Steps towards a more sustainable and autonomous battery ecosystem are also taken at the European level, for example via the Critical Raw Materials Act, and the EU Battery Regulation. This regulation stipulates that new batteries must contain a minimum amount of recycled materials, and provides guidelines for the development of promising future battery types, which are taken into account in all Growth Fund research programmes.

Sustainability

Other academics at the University of Groningen can perform life cycle analyses to assess the impact of production, using, and disposing of lithium batteries that power our cars, bicycles, and phones, as well as new types of batteries, such as sodium-ion batteries. Tromp: ‘Sustainability is central to the Growth Fund programme, so we should only further develop novel batteries if they are truly more sustainable across the full value chain than current lithium-ion batteries. In addition, the availability of the required materials, the sustainability of all production steps, and the costs must be taken into account.’ Any new battery cell design must also allow for easy recycling. ‘This hasn’t been the case for the standard lithium batteries we use today, which is why they are so difficult to recycle.’