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  [23]Future Planet | [24]Future Planet
  The battery invented 120 years before its time
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  (Image credit: Getty Images)
  Thomas Edison was the proud owner of an electric car, complete with his
  own patented nickel-iron battery (Credit: Getty Images)
  By Allison Hirschlag24th February 2021
  At the turn of the 20th Century, Thomas Edison invented a battery with
  the unusual quirk of producing hydrogen. Now, 120 years later, the
  battery is coming into its own.
  T

  Traveling down a gravelly road in West Orange, New Jersey, an electric
  car sped by pedestrians, some clearly surprised by the vehicle's roomy
  interior. It travelled at twice the speed of the more conventional
  vehicles it overtook, stirring up dust that perhaps tickled the noses
  of the horses pulling carriages steadily along the street.

  It was the early 1900s, and the driver of this particular car was
  Thomas Edison. While electric cars weren’t a novelty in the
  neighborhood, most of them relied on heavy and cumbersome lead-acid
  batteries. Edison had outfitted his car with a new type of battery that
  he hoped would soon be powering vehicles throughout the country: a
  nickel-iron battery.

  Edison claimed the nickel-iron battery was incredibly resilient, and
  could be charged twice as fast as lead-acid batteries. He even had a
  [27]deal in place with Ford Motors to produce this purportedly more
  efficient electric vehicle.

  But the nickel-iron battery did have some kinks to work out. It was
  larger than the more widely used lead-acid batteries, and more
  expensive. Also, when it was being charged, it would release hydrogen,
  which was considered a nuisance and could be dangerous.

More than a century later, engineers would discover the nickel-iron battery
as something of a diamond in the rough

  Unfortunately, by the time Edison had a more refined prototype,
  electric vehicles were on the way out in favour of fossil-fuel-powered
  vehicles that could go longer distances before needing to refuel or
  recharge. Edison's deal fell by the wayside.

  But more than a century later, engineers would rediscover the
  nickel-iron battery as something of a diamond in the rough. Now it is
  being investigated as an answer to an enduring challenge for renewable
  energy: smoothing out the intermittent nature of clean energy sources
  like wind and solar. And hydrogen, once considered a worrisome
  byproduct, could turn out to be one of the most useful things about
  these batteries.
  What used to be a dangerous quirk of the Edison battery has turned out
  to be remarkably useful (Credit: Alamy)

  What used to be a dangerous quirk of the Edison battery has turned out
  to be remarkably useful (Credit: Alamy)

  Speeding forward to the mid 2010s, a research team at the Delft
  University of Technology in the Netherlands [28]happened upon a use for
  the nickel-iron battery based on the hydrogen produced. When
  electricity passes through the battery as it’s being recharged, it
  undergoes a chemical reaction that releases hydrogen and oxygen. The
  team recognised the reaction as reminiscent of the one used to release
  hydrogen from water, known as electrolysis.

  "It looked to me like the chemistry was the same," says Fokko Mulder,
  leader of the Delft University research team. This water-splitting
  reaction [29]is one way hydrogen is produced for use as a fuel – and an
  entirely clean fuel too, provided the energy used to drive the reaction
  is from a renewable source.

Nickel-iron batteries are extremely durable, as Edison proved in his early
electric car, and some have been known to last upwards of 40 years

  While Mulder and his team knew that the nickel-iron battery’s
  electrodes were capable of splitting water, they were surprised to see
  that the electrodes started to have a higher energy storage than before
  hydrogen was being produced. In other words, it became a better battery
  when it was used as an electrolyser too. They were also surprised to
  see how well the electrodes held up to the electrolysis, which can
  excessively tax and degrade more traditional batteries. "And, of
  course, we were rather content that the energy efficiency appeared to
  be good during all this," says Mulder, reaching levels of 80-90%.
  Conventional electrolysers are employed to convert renewables to
  hydrogen, but Mulder hopes the battolyser could do this more
  efficiently and cheaply (Credit: Getty Images)

  Conventional electrolysers are employed to convert renewables to
  hydrogen, but Mulder hopes the battolyser could do this more
  efficiently and cheaply (Credit: Getty Images)

  Mulder dubbed their creation the "battolyser", and they hope their
  discovery can help solve two major challenges for renewable energy:
  energy storage and, when the batteries are full, production of clean
  fuel.

  "You'll hear all these discussions about batteries on the one hand and
  hydrogen on the other hand," says Mulder. "There's always been a kind
  of competition between those two sets of directions, but you basically
  need both."

  Renewable value

  One of the biggest challenges of renewable energy sources such as wind
  and solar is how unpredictable and intermittent they can be. With
  solar, for example, you have a surplus of energy produced during the
  daytime and summertime, but at night and in the winter months, the
  supply dwindles.

  Conventional batteries, such as those based on lithium, can store
  energy in the short-term, but when they’re fully charged they have to
  release any excess or they could overheat and [30]degrade. The
  nickel-iron battolyser, on the other hand remains stable [31]when fully
  charged, at which point it can transition to making hydrogen instead.

  "[Nickel-iron batteries] are resilient, being able to withstand
  undercharging and overcharging better than other batteries," says John
  Barton, a research associate at the School of Mechanical, Electrical
  and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University in the UK, who
  also researches battolysers. "With hydrogen production, the battolyser
  adds multi-day and even inter-seasonal energy storage."

  Besides creating hydrogen, nickel-iron batteries have other useful
  traits, first and foremost that they are unusually low-maintenance.
  They are [32]extremely durable, as Edison proved in his early electric
  car, and some have been known to last upwards of 40 years. The metals
  needed to make the battery – nickel and iron – are also more common
  than, say, cobalt which is used to make conventional batteries.

  This means the battolyser could have another possible role for
  renewable energy: helping it become more profitable.

  Like any other industry, renewable energy prices fluctuate based on
  supply and demand. On a bright, sunny day there might be an abundance
  of power from solar, which can lead to a glut and a dip in the price
  the energy can be sold for. The battolyser, however, could help smooth
  out those peaks and troughs.

  "When electricity prices are high, then you can discharge this battery,
  but when the electricity price is low, you can charge the battery and
  make hydrogen," says Mulder.
  The battolyser is one way to help balance the supply and demand of
  renewable energy from sources like solar and wind (Credit: Alamy)

  The battolyser is one way to help balance the supply and demand of
  renewable energy from sources like solar and wind (Credit: Alamy)

  The battolyser is not alone in this regard. More traditional alkaline
  electrolysers coupled with batteries can perform this function too, and
  [33]are widespread in the hydrogen-producing industry. Mulder thinks
  the battolyser can do the same thing for less money and for longer,
  thanks to the durability of the system. It is something that is making
  the battolyser's backers hopeful.

  And while hydrogen is the direct product of the battolyser, other
  useful substances can be generated from it too, such as ammonia or
  methanol, which are typically easier to store and transport. "Having a
  battolyser in place, [an] ammonia plant would run more constantly and
  [would] need less manpower, reducing operating costs and maintenance
  costs, thus producing ammonia the cheapest way in a sustainable, green
  manner," says Hans Vrijenhoef, chief executive of Proton Ventures, who
  has invested in Mulder's battolyser.

  Scaling up

  Right now, the largest battolyser in existence is 15kW/15kWh, and has
  enough battery capacity and long-term hydrogen storage to power 1.5
  households. A larger version of a 30kW/30kWh battolyser is in the works
  at the Magnum power station in Eemshaven in the Netherlands, where it
  will provide enough hydrogen to satisfy the needs of the power station.

  Once it's undergone rigorous testing there, the aim is to scale-up
  further and distribute the battolyser to green energy producers, such
  as solar and wind farms. Ultimately, the battolyser's proponents hope
  it will reach gigawatt-scale – equivalent to the power generated by
  around [34]400 utility-scale wind turbines. Though as well as
  scaling-up, Barton sees a role for smaller battolysers, which could
  help supply energy to mini-grids used by remote communities that don't
  live on main power grids.
  Edison's laboratory in New Jersey was the birthplace of many of his
  inventions, both those that gained popularity in his lifetime and those
  that didn't (Credit: Alamy)

  Edison's laboratory in New Jersey was the birthplace of many of his
  inventions, both those that gained popularity in his lifetime and those
  that didn't (Credit: Alamy)

  The fact that the battolyser's electrodes are made from relatively
  cheap and common metals may help. And unlike lithium, nickel and iron
  do not create large quantities of water waste when mined, nor are they
  linked to [35]significant environmental degradation.

  Still, both Mulder and Barton see hurdles to overcome in terms of
  efficiency and capacity. "The battolyser would really benefit from
  increased power capacity as a battery, or reduced internal resistance,"
  says Barton. Internal resistance is the opposition to the flow of
  current in a battery. The higher the internal resistance, the lower the
  efficiency. Improving that is something Mulder and his team are now
  working on.

  Much of the potential of the battolyser has been hiding in plain sight,
  ever since Thomas Edison first began experimenting with his nickel-iron
  battery at the turn of the 20th Century. He may have been wrong in
  believing his battery would supplant the other vehicles on the road.
  But the nickel-iron battery may yet play a role in replacing fossil
  fuels more broadly, by helping hasten the transition to renewables.

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