Preventing the Next Battery Incident: Rethinking Battery Energy Storage Safety
As battery energy storage systems expand, recent fires and explosions prove compliance isn’t enou...
Features
Built on Strong Foundations
Adam Duckett on the rich opportunities open to those with a chemical engineering education
Engineering Net Zero Part 9: Strategies for Clean Energy
David Simmonds builds on his ENZ series, visualising the UK power system, and explores the uninte...
Engineering Net Zero Part 9C: Strategy Options for our Future Energy System
David Simmonds continues his mini-series by looking at some of the unintentional consequences of ...
Engineering Net Zero Part 9B: Modelling of our Energy System
David Simmonds offers a tool to simplify the presentation of the long-duration balancing measures...
Engineering Net Zero Part 9A: The Role of Balancing in our Energy System
David Simmonds extends his Engineering Net Zero series by visualising the workings of a renewable...
Pathways to Success? Assessing NESO Plans for Clean Power 2030
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) released its report last week on achieving clean power...
Blyth Decision Means UK’s Industrial Reboot Loses Another Site of National Importance
Northumberland County Council today approved plans to put a data centre on a site previously earm...
Engineering Net Zero Part 5: Consuming the Planet's Resources
David Simmonds explores the picnic basket of our energy transition, our increasing dependency on ...
Engineering Net Zero Part 4: Giving Industry and Transport Operators a Choice
David Simmonds has called for more choice for domestic customers when it comes to clean transport...
Engineering Net Zero Part 2: How We Can Give Consumers Choice in the Push for Green Transport
David Simmonds discusses the need to accelerate flexibility when it comes to cleaner transport op...
Biobatteries: Harnessing the Power of Nature
Kerry Hebden speaks to researchers who are developing novel batteries for military and environmen...
Flow Batteries: Chemicals Operations that Promise Grid-Scale Storage
Adam Duckett speaks to flow battery innovators about the history of the technology and what’s to ...
Question Time: Built Environment & Transport
A panel of experts speaking at IChemE’s Centenary webinar urged attendees to think and work toget...
Energy: How to Store It
Adam Duckett looks at promising energy storage options that could help balance the rise of renewa...
Centenary Themes: Energy
At-a-glance information on what's in the fourth of our centenary theme specials
Brine to batteries: lithium extraction technology that’s sustainable and efficient
Amanda Doyle speaks to Teague Egan and Amit Patwardhan of clean technology company EnergyX about ...
Sustainable Business Decisions
Paul Hodges discusses the challenges that companies should consider on the path to a sustainabl...
Pure Processing for Battery Tech
William Hawker discusses his role in commercialising low cost, low emissions processes for produc...
The Bomb in Your Pocket?
Paul Orange explains why testing battery safety matters more than you’d imagine
Power Hungry
Amrit Chandan talks about his focus on growing and scaling his company's advanced lithium battery...
Time for Change
Adam Duckett on the UK energy crisis and opportunities for change
A Life in Lithium
The future of energy needs chemical engineers, and lots of them, say Jacob Brown, Titi Oliyide, L...
Five Questions for Kwasi Kwarteng about the UK's Hydrogen Strategy
Tom Baxter asks five questions about the UK Government's new Hydrogen Strategy.
Time to Transfer?
James Colley offers sound advice on careers transition when you need to switch sectors
Decarbonisation of End Uses
Malcolm Wilkinson and members of the Sustainability Special Interest Group discuss the technologi...
Zero-Carbon Electricity
Malcolm Wilkinson and members of the Sustainabilty Special Interest Group discuss the technologie...
Tesla Battery Day: Leading the Charge in Battery Innovation
A look at Tesla's exciting innovations in battery chemistry, cell design, and manufacturing methods.
Maybe, You Can Drive My Car
Tom Baxter explains why he does not see a future for hydrogen fuel cells in passenger cars
Hydrogen in Vehicular Transport
A look at the challenges and opportunities of using hydrogen as a transport fuel
Powering the future: the lithium battery that doesn’t get thrown away
Amanda Doyle speaks to Amrit Chandan, CEO of Aceleron, about the company’s battery pack design wh...
Japan: Taking a Lead in Hydrogen
Japan has identified hydrogen as the answer to the energy problem, both for transportation and in...
A Battery Olympics
Getting around the limitations of battery devices with clever ways of teaming different technolo...
Yoshio Nishi – Power Player
Claudia Flavell-While speaks with Yoshio Nishi, the Sony engineer who led the development of the ...
Lewis Urry – A Powerful Man
Richard Jansen-Parkes looks at the life of Lewis Urry, inventor of the alkaline battery and fathe...
Francis Bacon – Future Fuel
Meet Francis ‘Tom’ Bacon, the father of the hydrogen fuel cell; Claudia Flavell-While writes
Solar-Powered Water Purification Wins Top Prize
Helen Tunnicliffe reviews the winners of IChemE’s annual awards programme
News
Northern Lithium completes two-month extraction demonstration, eying commercial production by 2028
NORTHERN Lithium, a startup planning to mine lithium in the northeast of England, has completed 6...
University of Surrey researchers develop ‘breathing’ batteries
SCIENTISTS at the University of Surrey have developed “breathing” batteries that use novel cataly...
Battery storage facility given greenlight in Tees Valley
A 100 MW-capacity battery energy storage system (BESS) is set to be built in Tees Valley at the T...
UK government pledges to create high-skilled jobs in support of £17bn semiconductor industry
A “cutting-edge” semiconductor facility – featuring technology previously used only in Japan – ha...
LevertonHelm opens £35m lithium chloride plant
LEVERTONHELM has opened a new £30m (US$40m) lithium chloride production plant in Basingstoke, UK ...
Manchester Prize winner uses AI to improve battery materials
THE FIRST Manchester Prize has been awarded to Polaron, a startup which uses generative AI to “sp...
Cornish Lithium gets greenlight to build UK’s first plant to recover lithium from hot water
THE UK’S first commercial geothermal lithium production plant has been approved as Cornish Lithiu...
Rio Tinto to invest US$2.5bn in Argentina lithium mine
RIO TINTO has announced plans for a 20-fold expansion of lithium extraction at a mine in northwes...
Cleantech uses ‘reversable rusting’ to develop 100-hour battery
A MASSACHUSETTS energy firm has developed an iron-based battery that can store electricity for fo...
‘World’s first’ lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory to be built in the US
SILICON VALLEY startup Lyten has announced plans to build a lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory in...
Engineers call for smaller electric car batteries and ban on vapes
USING smaller electric car batteries and stripping materials out of old wind turbines for use in ...
Rio Tinto snaps up US lithium manufacturer in US$6.7bn deal
RIO TINTO is acquiring US company Arcadium Lithium for US$6.7bn, bolstering the mining giant’s en...
Northvolt cuts 1,600 in Sweden amid financial struggles
GREEN BATTERY manufacturer Northvolt has plans to cut 1,600 jobs across its operations in an ongo...
EDF Renewables earmarks more than 300 MW of UK battery storage projects
EDF RENEWABLES UK is set to double its battery storage capacity to more than 300 MW with several ...
Honeywell promise to maximise gigafactory efficiency with automation software
HONEYWELL has launched Battery Manufacturing Excellence Platform (Battery MXP), an artificial int...
Energy stored as liquefied air: £300m investment triggers construction of UK’s first commercial-scale plant
HIGHVIEW POWER has received £300m (US$379m) in funding to build the UK’s first commercial-scale l...
IChemE Matters – June 2024
Nigel Hirst looks back on his year as president
Australia’s commits A$22.7bn to green energy and production in latest federal budget
HYDROGEN, critical minerals, batteries, and low-carbon fuels are set to benefit from a multi-bill...
NatPower plans to deliver £10bn worth of battery storage projects to the UK
RENEWABLES project developer NatPower has promised to invest £10bn (US$12.8bn) to deliver the UK’...
Australia funds A$14m cleantech support centre
AUSTRALIA is funding a A$14m (US$9.2m) centre that will help companies manufacture and adopt rene...
ReElement Technologies partners with Afrivolt to develop Africa’s battery ecosystem
METALS refining and recycling company ReElement Technologies has signed a memorandum of understan...
AI put to work in push for rapid battery development
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) is helping slash the time it takes to develop batteries, with Umicor...
All-UK partnership to deliver landmark commercial scale direct lithium extraction plant
THREE companies from the north of England – Northern Lithium, Evove, and Sheers – have signed an ...
Safety issues to the fore at IChemE-hosted roundtable on battery energy storage systems
SAFETY concerns surrounding lithium-ion batteries dominated a recent IChemE-hosted roundtable dis...
UK government publishes battery strategy
THE UK government’s ambition to have a globally competitive battery supply chain by 2030 has been...
European Commission proposes EU-UK tariff delays on electric vehicles as it announces €3bn for battery manufacturing
MANUFACTURERS on both sides of the Channel are urging the EU to adopt a proposal from the Europea...
ExxonMobil starts drilling at prolific lithium resource site as it targets energy transition leadership
EXXONMOBIL’s plan to become a leading lithium producer moved a step closer with the first phase o...
Sweden’s Northvolt hails sodium battery breakthrough
NORTHVOLT says it has made a breakthrough in the development of sodium-ion batteries that could h...
US unveils up to US$3.5bn funding to expand domestic battery manufacturing
THE White House has announced up to US$3.5bn in funding to strengthen domestic battery manufactur...
Prince William unveils third class of Earthshot Prize finalists leading the way in climate change solutions
A GREENER and more easily recycled lithium-ion battery, a microbial fuel cell for cleaning water ...
UK lithium boost as engineers use membranes to extract lithium from brine
ENGINEERS have piloted a process that uses membranes to produce battery grade lithium carbonate f...
Tata Steel secures £500m in government “green” aid but job losses still feared
TATA STEEL has secured £500m (US$619m) in backing from the UK government to decarbonise its Welsh...
Researchers develop mussel-inspired coating that can extract rare earth elements
RESEARCHERS at Penn State University, US, have developed a mussel-inspired nanocellulose coating ...
Queensland government invests A$24m in flow batteries to boost battery network
THE QUEENSLAND government is investing A$24m (US$15.4m) into iron and zinc flow batteries from lo...
Low-carbon industries must inspire young recruits and support worker transitions to fill the UK green skills gap
LOW-CARBON industries such as hydrogen, carbon capture, and nuclear, need to promote careers outr...
Planning for Carlton Power’s major £750m battery storage project in Manchester given green light
Planning permission for Carlton Power’s major £750m (US$953m) battery storage project that will s...
Tata Group invests £4bn to build battery gigafactory in the UK
IN A historic moment for the UK’s growing electric vehicle (EV) industry, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)...
Imerys and British Lithium to develop UK’s largest lithium deposit while Norway’s Norge Mining makes major phosphate discovery
FRENCH multinational firm, Imerys, has teamed up with extraction company British Lithium to becom...
Rio Tinto announces manufacturing research lab in Australia as it charges ahead with batteries push
RIO TINTO is building a battery manufacturing laboratory at its research facility in Bundoora, Me...
Australian miner Fortescue is building battery factory in UK
FORTESCUE is building a factory near Oxford, UK, that will produce batteries and electric powertr...
Weardale Lithium and Watercycle Technologies produce lithium carbonate from geothermal brines in North East England
TAKING a step in developing a UK lithium supply chain, natural resources company Weardale Lithium...
Chemical engineers helping to close the loop on electric car batteries
CHEMICAL engineers at Imperial College London are working with Altilium Metals to prove that elec...
Plugging the UK into Moroccan renewables: massive undersea cable link wins funding
A PROJECT planning to run undersea cables from Morocco to the UK to supply 8% of the country’s po...
Rockwell Automation teams up with Cornish Lithium to develop the firm’s demonstration plant
LITHIUM exploration within Cornwall, UK has received a boost after Rockwell Automation announced ...
UK's first industrial scale lithium-ion battery recycling plant to open
UK-based mining company Technology Minerals has said that its battery recycling business, Recyclu...
UK battery projects awarded £30m in government funding
THREE cutting-edge businesses are set to benefit from a share of £30m (US$37m) in funding from th...
Japan and the US to collaborate on critical minerals
JAPAN and the US have signed a critical minerals agreement targeted at strengthening and diversif...
Altilium Metals to accelerate development of the UK’s largest EV battery recycling plant
PLANS for Teesside to host the UK’s largest EV battery recycling plant are underway following the...
EU launches net zero plan to rival US greentech incentives
THE EU has outlined its plans for scaling-up the manufacturing of crucial clean technologies as i...
Britishvolt bought by Australian startup
AUSTRALIAN-based startup Recharge Industries has been confirmed as Britishvolt’s new owners after...
Governments support ‘dry lab’ for developing next-gen batteries
FUNDING from the UK and Scottish governments is supporting a new £4.7m (US$5.7m) research facilit...
£27m to boost the UK’s battery industry
THE Faraday Battery Challenge has awarded £27.6m (US$33.2m) in funding to support 17 firms workin...
Companies eye Britishvolt site in the wake of company collapse
UK battery firm Britishvolt has received interest from more than a dozen companies looking to buy...
Deal to save Britishvolt could see its valuation drop by 90%
UK BATTERY firm Britishvolt has said it is in talks with “a consortium of investors” about a sale...
Australia greenlights first offshore wind zone as push for renewables heats up
AUSTRALIA has taken its first step towards harnessing offshore wind by declaring the Bass Strait ...
Harmony Energy debuts battery energy storage project
INVESTMENT firm Harmony Energy has announced that its huge battery energy storage project based a...
Zenobē begins construction on battery storage projects in Scotland
EV FLEET and battery storage firm Zenobē has started construction on three battery storage projec...
Teesside to support growing EV batteries market
TEESSIDE, UK will host the UK’s first large-scale lithium refinery, and possibly the largest elec...
Prince William announces Earthshot Prize finalists
A CARBON-ZERO aggregate made from waste materials and by-products for use in construction, a curt...
Britishvolt secures short-term funding in wake of closure concerns
THE TROUBLED battery startup Britishvolt and its proposed UK gigafactory has been thrown a lifeli...
NZTC reveals winners of its 2022 Open Innovation Programme
NET ZERO Technology Centre (NZTC), a UK-based innovation firm, has revealed the 20 game-changing ...
QEPrize 2023 “Create the Trophy” competition opens
THE Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation (QEPrize) has now opened its 2023 Create the...
Production at proposed gigafactory put on hold until 2025
BRITISHVOLT, a startup which says it intends to “create a world-class battery cell ecosystem” and...
CATL to build second European battery plant in Hungary
CHINESE battery firm CATL plans to build a new 100 GWh battery plant covering an area of 221 ha i...
UK set to host rare earths processing hub in push for cleantech security
THE UK is set to host a new US$195m rare earth processing hub that Pensana is building at the Sal...
£3.8bn UK gigafactory receives funding
THE UK Government has committed funding towards a huge £3.8bn (US$4.5bn) battery manufacturing pl...
UK sets up centre to advise on critical minerals, amid warnings of supply risks
THE UK has established a Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre in Nottingham to help the country ...
Curtin University to lead roadmap to decarbonise WA
CURTIN University’s School of Mines is leading the way in a campaign to decarbonise Western Austr...
New technology extracts more lithium from mining waste
Scientists at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) together with Li...
Johnson Matthey shakes up business in wake of battery exit
JOHNSON MATTHEY (JM) has sold its battery materials business and will focus more on hydrogen tech...
RWE to invest €1.5bn in Irish renewables
RWE Ireland has announced plans to invest up to €1.5bn (US$1.6bn) in onshore wind, offshore wind,...
UK first: Cornish Lithium trials direct extraction of key battery metal from geothermal waters
AT the end of March, Cornish Lithium commissioned the UK’s first direct lithium extraction pilot ...
Partnership to fill Europe’s EV supply chain gap
WOOD has been appointed as Owner’s Engineer by Green Lithium and will build and operate what is e...
Johnson Matthey partnership to close EV battery recycling loop
JOHNSON Matthey (JM) and material recycler European Metal Recycling (EMR) have signed a memorandu...
Veolia announces its first UK battery recycling plant
VEOLIA is building its first electric vehicle battery recycling facility in the UK, with the capa...
Farewell to 2021, and what to read while we’re away
WHETHER it’s serious engineering lessons and insights on career opportunities, or irreverent quer...
Australian partnership for battery storage system
ENGIE, Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), and Fluence have partnered to deliver a large-sc...
Johnson Matthey will exit battery materials
JOHNSON MATTHEY (JM) is quitting its battery materials business after concluding the costs are to...
A$2.5m to fund pilot for greener lithium extraction
NOVALITH Technologies has raised A$2.5m (US$3.4m) of seed funding that will finance build-out and...
Glencore and Britishvolt enter long-term supply agreement
GLENCORE and Britishvolt have signed an agreement for the mining company to supply responsibly-so...
Consortium to develop solid-state battery technology
SEVEN UK-based organisations including Johnson Matthey have signed a memorandum of understanding ...
Johnson Matthey set targets to lower waste and improve safety on journey to net zero
JOHNSON MATTHEY has announced targets to heavily focus its sales and R&D spend in line with UN Su...
South Australia agrees A$1bn for hydrogen, CCS and more gas
SOUTH Australia has agreed a A$1bn (US$770m) investment with the Federal Government that includes...
Lanxess enters battery electrolyte sector
LANXESS is taking its first step into the battery chemistry market through a deal to manufacture ...
Yallourn coal plant will shut early, replacement battery planned
AUSTRALIA’S Yallourn coal-fired power plant, which meets 20% of electricity demand in Victoria, w...
Novel anodes for safe and stable seawater-based aqueous batteries
US RESEARCHERS have developed a battery anode based on a new nanostructured alloy that could chan...
Partnership investigates potential battery materials complex
BASF and Eramet, a global mining and metallurgy group, have signed an agreement to jointly assess...
EnergyX partners with ProfMOF to improve lithium extraction technology
ENERGY Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) has announced a partnership with ProfMOF to further enh...
Sustainable battery company gets £2m funding to scale up production
ACELERON has announced that it has received £2m (US$2.6m) in equity investment which will allow i...
EU calls for proposals for €1bn clean technology fund
THE EU Commission has launched a call for proposals for its €1bn (US$1.1bn) Innovation Fund for l...
First Cobalt repurposes idle plant to produce EV battery component
NORTH American cobalt company First Cobalt has announced a C$2.1m (US$1.6m) work programme as par...
LG Chem invests US$53m to triple nanotube production
LG CHEM is more than tripling its production of carbon nanotubes for the burgeoning electric vehi...
Novel battery technology project succeeds in proof-of-concept
A COLLABORATIVE project has succeeded in demonstrating proof-of-concept for novel sodium-nickel-c...
BASF joins forces to plan electric car battery recycling cluster
BASF, Fortum and Nornickel are planning a recycling centre in Finland that would recover metals f...
Stretchable battery for wearable electronics
RESEARCHERS at Stanford University, US have developed a soft and stretchable battery that could b...
BASF and JenaBatteries cooperate to develop innovative power storage technology
BASF and German startup JenaBatteries are cooperating to produce battery technology suitable for ...
US$1.32m to accelerate waste-reduction innovation and research
ECOSURETY, a UK producer responsibility compliance scheme, has launched a £1m (US$1.32m) innovati...
Highview Power to build Europe’s largest battery storage system
HIGHVIEW Power, the designer and developer of the CRYOBattery, is to build what it claims will be...
New lithium extraction process could revolutionise energy storage
ENERGY Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) has developed a scalable lithium extraction process usi...
Periodic Videos on the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry win
YOUTUBE star and chemist Martyn Poliakoff has published a video looking at lithium-ion batteries,...
Scientists win Nobel prize for developing Li-ion batteries
THE 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham, and A...
Recycling EV batteries
ERAMET, BASF, and SUEZ have partnered to develop an innovative closed-loop process to recycle lit...
Pilbara Minerals raises US$62.7m in equity
AUSTRALIAN lithium mining company Pilbara Minerals has raised A$91.5m (US$62.7m) in equity. The t...
Australian hydrogen energy storage project receives US$2.4m investment
RESEARCHERS in Australia have received a A$3.5m (US$2.4m) investment to develop a system that sto...
European companies to test innovative nanocoated-salt based energy storage technology
VATTENFALL, a leading European energy company, and Swedish company SaltX Technology have commissi...
Increasing the recycling rate of electric vehicle batteries
A PARTNERSHIP between Nordic clean energy company Fortum, and Finnish speciality recycling compan...
Shell plans to becomes world’s largest power firm
SHELL is set to become one of the largest power companies in the world, its Director of New Energ...
An ‘evolution’ in renewable energy
GENERAL Electric (GE), the American multinational conglomerate, is close to completing the world’...
Albemarle signs agreement for lithium mining JV
ALBEMARLE, the global specialty chemicals company, has signed an exclusivity agreement with Miner...
Engineers publish £22bn blueprint for UK to take global lead on hydrogen heating
ENGINEERS have called on the UK government to immediately spend £125m (US$159m) designing a hydro...
Johnson Matthey picks Clitheroe for next-gen battery plant
JOHNSON MATTHEY is building a demonstration- plant for production of next-generation lithium ion ...
New design of lithium-air battery is step towards next generation of energy storage
A COMPLETE overhaul of the design of the lithium-air battery has led to the development of a prot...
Formic acid-based fuel cell developed for hydrogen storage
A FUEL cell has been developed that can store and transport hydrogen using formic acid so that th...
Liveris to step down as chair of DowDuPont in April
CHEMICAL engineer Andrew Liveris will step down in April as executive chair of DowDuPont, the hol...
Extracting lithium from water using synthetic membranes
A metal-organic framework (MOF) has been developed that can extract lithium from water, which cou...
Australia must act now to own big downstream battery opportunity
AUSTRALIA’S government has been urged to act now if it wants domestic industry to push downstream...
Warwickshire to host £80m UK battery research centre
UK BUSINESS secretary Greg Clark has announced that Coventry and Warwickshire will host the UK’s ...
Government outlines plan to make UK world’s most innovative nation
THE UK government has published its long-awaited Industrial Strategy as it seeks to boost industr...
Musk bet set to pay off as South Australia readies world’s largest lithium ion battery
ELON MUSK looks set to win the bet he made with South Australia, after the state’s premier announ...
Living solar panel printed on paper
BIO-SOLAR panels have been printed to resemble wallpaper, and could lead to new types of electric...
Liveris to leave Dow for battery firm Novonix
ANDREW Liveris will take a board position at an Australian battery company when he steps down fro...
Founders of £65m UK battery research institute named
SEVEN British universities have been named as founding partners of the £65m Faraday Battery Insti...
UK battery technology funding announced
BATTERY technology in the UK received a boost today, as the government announced £246m (US$321m) ...
South Australia calls Musk on storage bet
SOUTH AUSTRALIA has called Elon Musk on a bet he made in March, and has challenged the billionair...
