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As the world moves away from fossil fuels and towards an increasingly renewable energy-powered electric future, there are concerns from some green groups that the long term of batteries – such as those fitted in electric vehicles – may not be as environmentally friendly as first billed because so few are recycled or reused. There are, however, innovative schemes going on right now which aim to turn the tide on battery waste. This article highlights a new project to give electric bus batteries a new lease of life as solar energy storage units and looks at the wider implications for battery upcycling. AceOn Group is working in a positive partnership to help make this happen
L
ithium-ion (li-ion) batteries provide power for our electric cars, electric bikes, laptops,
smart phones and much more. But while these are helping with the world’s transition to more electric-powered ways of living and working, they are in turn creating a secondary environmental issue – what to do with the growing stockpile of dead batteries. Research suggests that less than 5% of li-ion
batteries are currently being recycled, with a majority ending up in landfill. By 2030, the number of used li-ion batteries is estimated to hit two million metric tons a year worldwide.
GIVING BUS BATTERIES A SECOND LIFE Established over ten years ago in Telford, AceOn is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers and distributors of lithium-ion battery packs and energy storage systems. Its co-founder and current managing director, Mark Thompson, draws on over 30 years of experience in the battery industry and is widely known in the industry for his knowledge, passion, insight, and understanding of future market opportunities and challenges. While the company is used to making and
designing new li-ion battery packs and storage systems, it is now using its expertise to work with spent batteries to see if they can be reconditioned and used in new ways to close the materials cycle and conserve natural resources. Earlier this year, the company began working on
a pilot project with Brill Power, an Oxford-based specialist in power electronics and battery management systems, and Cranfield University in Bedfordshire. The pioneering scheme is focused on upcycling eight used bus batteries, from electric buses in Milton Keynes, and transforming them into solar batteries to store energy imported from the Grid at off-peak times to power the
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GENERATING A MORE POSITIVE FUTURE FOR DEAD BATTERIES
University’s buildings at peak times. Funded by Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation
Fund, the scheme is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK to recondition bus batteries in this way, and it aims to demonstrate that there are huge commercial opportunities for this approach, as well as helping to provide a workable solution to the problem of li-ion battery waste. Of course, there is a reason why recycling li-ion
batteries isn’t commonplace yet. Recycling or upcycling li-ion batteries has many challenges – they are easily damaged when dismantled and they can be potentially hazardous, even explosive, under some circumstances, so they must be handled with care and precision. Spent li-ion batteries are not all the same
either. There can be large differences in the performance of old battery cells, and conventional
“The pioneering scheme is
focused on upcycling eight used bus batteries, from electric buses in Milton Keynes, and
transforming them into solar batteries to store energy
imported from the Grid at off-peak times to power
the University’s buildings at peak times”
battery systems are only as strong and live as their weakest cells. The life-expectancy of recycled batteries has also been a stumbling block in the past. Using the skills required to create new li-ion
battery storage, AceOn’s engineers have managed to work around these challenges using their own tech and a novel battery management system (BMS) developed by Brill Power to produce an upcycled li-ion battery storage system with a maximal lifetime, performance and safety.
CLOSING THE CIRCLE One of the great things about the pilot project is that the upcycled batteries will serve a second environmentally friendly purpose as energy storage batteries to power facilities at Cranfield university at peak times, creating both an environmentally friendly and financially friendly solution. All being well, the end product will deliver a
120kWh second life li-ion battery system to store energy for optimal on-site use. If successful, it is hoped that the technology will become commercially available. By upcycling li-ion batteries as energy storage
from the Grid or solar storage batteries for solar farms and roof-top PV installations, not only is the company helping to reuse more of the metals and materials which go into their production to reduce future demand on natural resources, but it could divert millions of batteries from landfill and provide a means of harnessing more renewable power for domestic and commercial users.
AceOn group
www.aceongroup.com
ENERGY MANAGEMENT - Autumn 2021 25
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