India
Indian Oil, the nation's largest oil
refiner, has teamed up with start-up Phinergy to develop the Israeli company's
aluminium-air battery.
A
drive to reduce dependence on imported materials and technology, especially
from China, is pushing India to invest in a battery technology that uses
aluminium rather than lithium as the key ingredient.
India’s
eastern jungles hold large reserves of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium.
India is among the top 10 bauxite producers. It has some 600 million tons of
the ore in proven reserves, according to the US Geological Survey, though
India's mining ministry estimates that untapped resources may be many times
that amount. Moreover, the country has invested heavily in production of
aluminium over the years to become the world's second-biggest smelter of
aluminium.
S.S.V.
Ramakumar, R&D Director, Indian Oil, said that, Lithium is scarce in the
country and they started looking for an element which is abundantly available
as a natural resource. He added that, an aluminium-air battery could win
advantages over its lithium-ion rival because it is potentially cheaper,
vehicles using it would have a longer range, and it is safer. Ramakumar also
said that if there is enough demand, Indian Oil and Phinergy plan to set up a
gigawatt-scale facility to make the batteries in India.
Demand
both from electric transport and renewable energy storage means India could
provide a market big enough for aluminium-air batteries to find a role. Battery
demand will rise to as much as 185 gigawatt hours by 2035, according to BNEF
(Bloomberg New Energy Finance Ltd).
Phinergy's systems have been tested by
telecom companies for backup power at transmission towers and other sites. The
company has run a test car using an aluminium-air battery to keep the vehicle's
lithium-ion power pack charged that, it says would have a range of 1,750
kilometres.
To assess the viability of wide-scale use in India, automakers Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, and Ashok Leyland are carrying out vehicle tests that are expected to take almost a year.
Sources: Gadgets 3600
Image Sources: Google Images
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