Technological penetration and carbon-neutral evaluation of rechargeable battery systems for large-scale energy storage

The grid decarbonization requires the upscaling deployment of renewable energy sources, correspondingly, the electrochemical battery systems emerge as a vital transformative technology to realize the sustainable power supply without geographical restrictions. Aiming to achieve the efficient, sustainable, and chemical-neutral loop of the electrochemical energy storage solutions, this article re-evaluates the commercial Li-ion batteries (LIBs) technologies and comprehensively assess the viability of alternative “beyond Li ion” chemistries, such as sodium ion batteries, aqueous zinc batteries as well as solid-state lithium batteries. For each category, the foreseen advantages, raw material accessibility, cell prototyping and manufacturability readiness are summarized and commented, with the emphasis on the huge gap between the lab-scale model and the practical production in series. Additionally, feasible recycling routine to integrate the spent LIB into a complete manufacturing loop remains an urgent priority. We envision that large-scale energy storage requires the collaborative efforts from researchers, manufacturers, government, and multiple parties of the energy sector, meanwhile the technological advances facilitate the parallel optimization of LIBs manufacturing and development of nascent battery technologies within a more green, sustainable, and carbon-neutral framework.