The home could be a battery in coming years

Stockhom - Rechargeable cement batteries could allow for whole sections of multi-storey buildings to be made of functional concrete.

Energy storage technology has a core role to play in meeting emissions reduction targets.

A rechargeable cement battery that’s becoming a realistic possibility could change the way energy is stored, turning the walls of a house into a giant battery.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden developed cement batteries that can store around 10 times more energy than previously developed structures, even though at the moment they are still hundreds of times less energy-dense than a lithium-ion battery.

To make the structure, a cement-based mixture with small amounts of short carbon fibres inside is embedded with a metal-coated carbon fibre mesh: iron for the anode and nickel for the cathode.

Results from earlier studies investigating concrete battery technology showed very low performance. So, the Swedish researchers realised we had to think out of the box, to come up with another way to produce the electrode.

The Swedish idea they have developed, which is also rechargeable, has never been explored before. Now they have proof of concept at lab scale.

Energy storage and the related technology is taking on increasing importance as the world transitions to green energy, renewables and a low-carbon economy.

Storage technology has a core role to play in meeting emissions reduction targets, as it can help transmit and distribute electricity and store energy from renewable sources like solar and wind power.

Batteries can help compensate for times when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing.

The issue is far from straightforward and investment and technological developments are needed if batteries are to become a core part of the future.

On the one hand, batteries offer a great way to store renewable energy, while on the other, they rely on scarce mineral resources for their production and can be hard to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way.

By 2030, batteries could enable 30 percent of the required reductions in carbon emissions in the transport and power sectors. However, to achieve this, the battery value chain will have to expand by 19 times over the next decade.