Sustainability

Three PhD students from Melbourne are moving their research into recycling lithium-ion batteries from the labs into pitch meetings, vying to become one of the first companies in Australia to recover the metals and minerals from spent batteries. Their method, they say, is simpler, less toxic and more cost competitive than those widely used.

Western Australia will install electric vehicle (EV) stations at 45 new locations, creating a fast charging network spanning more than 3,000kms.

Australia’s largest energy retailer AGL has blamed an “extremely challenging market” prompted in part by the ongoing penetration of renewables, including rooftop solar PV, after reporting a $2.06 billion full-year net loss.

Energy Source, a Brazilian battery specialist, is currently providing energy storage services with reused and recycled batteries. Battery recycling and related metals recovery are conducted separately, without the burning of materials.

One of the country’s most electricity-intensive smelters plans to switch to renewable energy, a move which would drastically reduce its footprint and will send a clear message to generators that even if the federal government continues to support coal, Australia doesn’t.

The ARENA saga continues, with shadow minister Chris Bowen confirming the Labor party will disallow Angus Taylor’s attempt to gut the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Both Victoria’s and Queensland’s state governments are moving on their renewable energy zones (REZs) with tight deadlines looming for hopeful projects in Victoria, while further north the government is eager to hear from local communities.

The world authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has issued its Sixth Assessment Report, the most scathing yet, declaring our current trajectory of global warming will reach 1.5C by 2030. The report makes clear the heightened climatic effects of climate change will only increase, with the transition to renewable energies our only hope.

With manufacturing ramping up year by year and policies already looking to get ahead of the large volumes of end-of-life products, the landscape for lithium-ion battery recycling is rapidly changing. pv magazine recently spoke with Mari Lundström, associate professor of chemical and metallurgical engineering at Aalto University, to find out what is needed on the research side for the effective recycling of batteries.

Patrick Matweew, CEO of Australian startup Luceo Energy, is fully aware grid digitalisation stirs fervour in the hearts of few. It is, nonetheless, perhaps the single most important step in realising our clean energy future. “It’s not spoken about enough because it sits in that little niche. There might be other things that are a little bit more sexy, but this is really where the fundamentals get put in place to enable [everything else],” he told pv magazine Australia.