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Technology

We're running out of lithium for batteries – can we use salt instead?

Lithium-ion batteries power the world, but with lithium running low, we desperately need a viable alternative. Here’s why common salt may be our best bet

By Katharine Sanderson

20 January 2021

×îÐÂÂé¶¹ÊÓÆµ. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Domenic Bahmann

THEY are the widgets that quietly power our lives: lithium-ion batteries. Our phones, laptops and increasingly our cars rely on them. They already seem ubiquitous, yet the real battery revolution is still coming. Just take electric vehicles: in 2019, the number of electric cars on the world’s roads was just over 7 million, but that is expected to shoot up to some 200 million by 2030. And then consider our hopes of running the future on green electricity from wind turbines and solar panels. That will also depend on huge batteries that can store electricity for when it is…

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