Innolith claims energy dense battery tech breakthrough

We are living in an electric age. Our energy carrier of choice is the zipping electron in a conductor. And this trend is increasing. As we develop more and more systems which rely on both electricity and mobility – electric cars, electrically powered shipping and, in the coming decades, electric aircraft, we are faced with two pressing problems. The first is how to generate the electricity we need to power our devices without adversely affecting the environment, and the second is how to store it in such a way that it can be delivered in the amounts and for the duration necessary. Both problems are difficult and pressing, but a breakthrough in the second – battery systems – may be on its way.

For decades, the battery technology of choice for storing and delivering relatively large amounts of electricity over a long period has been the lithium ion battery. But these have well-known drawbacks. One is that their energy density is simply not as big as that of the liquid hydrocarbon fuels they typically replace in vehicles, meaning that it is difficult to pack enough batteries into a car to power it over the distances that drivers are typically used to from a tank of petrol. It also limits the usefulness in aircraft, because the power to weight ratio for a long flight is not favourable.