Salt of the Earth: Why sodium is the future of sustainable production

Diesel is in its dying days. HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is a lower carbon transition fuel for on-location power but it comes with its own sustainability issues, and with internal combustion generators phasing out, the future of production belongs to batteries.

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology has been the dominant battery technology of the last decade, undergoing mass adoption in a short amount of time, with continuous improvement in the technology. Lithium-ion powered cars only became readily available in the early 2010s and the batteries used today are substantially different from those used even just ten years ago.

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The Lithium Challenge

Hot or Not?

A Lithium Alternative

Sodium Cell Advantages

Preserving With Salt

Environmental Impact

As battery power becomes more prominent in our lives, the challenges around lithium become clearer.

Mining is always environmentally devastating.

As demand grows and the world's finite lithium resources are used up, lithium mining will bring its own set of problems.

Lithium requires a huge amount of water to extract - a major problem in a world that is increasingly water poor.

The element is also unevenly distributed around the world, putting some countries in a position of energy dominance over others when universal cheap energy is badly needed.

Additionally, the global demand for battery power as the world decarbonizes means that the supply of lithium might struggle to keep up with demand. LIBs can be recycled, particularly for their copper, cobalt, and nickel, but making use of the lithium in the recycled black mass is far from straightforward and still on its way to being cost-effective.

Currently, using virgin lithium is cheaper than using recycled lithium.

Safety is also a concern.

Damaged or shoddily built lithium batteries can heat up and start fires that are very difficult to extinguish and can even burn under water. While it's true, that accidents are amplified in the news (often boosted by those with an interest in seeing low-carbon technologies fail), they require that certain safety precautions are observed, especially when units are big enough to power vehicles or used to replace on-set generators. We must classify lithium batteries as dangerous goods when shipping, which means extra cost and care - and extra paperwork - every time you move them.

This is not to scare anyone off lithium-ion power.

Safety is going to be an essential part of energy storage, and the technology is being improved all the time.

Lithium-ion phosphate batteries are a more favored alternative to LIBs - safer, lower cost, and potentially cobalt-free - but they still have a lower energy density, besides the issues accompanying lithium mining, extraction, and recycling.

But then theres sodium.

The chemistry behind sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is roughly the same as that of lithium. Sodium and lithium occupy the same group on the periodic table. In sodium cells SIBs, sodium replaces lithium as the battery cathode. But there's a raft of differences between sodium and lithium tech that makes sodium a good bet as a power storage option for the future.

Sodium cells were first developed around the same time as lithium. But the greater charge density of lithium - and so, longer life - pushed lithium to the forefront when portable devices were booming and time between charges became a top priority for everyone.

Sodium battery technology has continued to develop to where it is now a viable alternative to lithium, with many more advantages.

Unlike lithium, sodium is ubiquitous.

Most sodium for industrial use is obtained from mining halite (aka sodium chloride, aka table salt), the leftovers of evaporated ancient seas.

Then there are our contemporary oceans: According to the US Geological Survey, the weight of sodium chloride in one cubic mile of ocean is about 120 million tons. We aren't likely to run out of sodium soon.

Sodium cells are chemically much less reactive than lithium cells and don't heat up.

In a recent demonstration of different battery technologies used for film and TV production, an attending LA County firefighter said that the sodium battery on display was the only one he'd feel safe having on set.

One advantage of sodium technology is longevity.

For centuries, we have used salt for long-term preservation of everything from food to pharaohs.

That principle also seems to have an analog in battery chemistry too.

If you run a lithium battery down to zero, it typically damages the cell beyond recovery. Some small bit of energy always must be maintained in the battery for it to continue to stay functional.

Your gauge may tell you that your lithium battery charge is at zero, but the manufacturer has kept back a little extra in reserve to keep the battery alive.

But the chemistry of sodium means you can drain all the energy in a SIB sodium battery down to zero - real zero - and

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