{"id":72494,"date":"2023-04-01T05:23:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T18:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=72494"},"modified":"2023-04-01T07:52:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T21:22:08","slug":"vegemite-sodium-ion-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vegemite-sodium-ion-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Researchers Develop Vegemite-Based Sodium Gel Batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div id=\"attachment_72769\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72769\" class=\"wp-image-72769 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough.jpg\" alt=\"Vegemite and sodium ion gel batteries - Dr. Matilda &quot;Tilly&quot; Wattle\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-72769\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scientist who made the groundbreaking discovery linking Vegemite to improved sodium-ion battery performance is Dr. Matilda &#8220;Tilly&#8221; Wattle, a renowned electrochemist and renewable energy researcher based in Brisbane, Australia. Image Credit: Journal Of Australian Electrochemistry.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>The world is in crisis on multiple fronts.\u00a0 Global warming is disrupting weather patterns and affecting food production.\u00a0 Electricity grids cannot close down fossil fuel power stations because of a lack of clean energy to fill gaps in renewable production.<!--more-->\u00a0 The electrification of road transport will take decades to dent greenhouse gas emissions due to a lack of lithium and other critical minerals.\u00a0 Perhaps most tragic of all, large-scale warfare has returned with Russia&#8217;s aggressive invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\r\n<p>With the odds stacked against humanity making it to the end of this century without disaster, I derive both pleasure and relief from being able to announce an Australian invention with the potential to&#8230;<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Rapidly replace fossil fuel generation<\/li>\r\n<li>Extend the range of electric vehicles (EVs) at a lower cost than lithium ion batteries.<\/li>\r\n<li>Improve global food security.<\/li>\r\n<li>Provide a lightweight energy source for the Australian Defence Force and other friendly militaries.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>The invention is sodium ion gel batteries: a cheap and lightweight alternative to lithium batteries developed in Australia by Dr. Matilda Wattle at Central Queensland University. \u00a0The sodium batteries&#8217; gel electrolyte, which is created from yeast, makes them effective and cheap.\u00a0 As this is technically a yeast extract, the world may have a Vegemite-powered future.<\/p>\r\n<p>This makes me happy.<\/p>\r\n<p><div class=\"youtube-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Vegemite &quot;Happy little vegemites&quot; TVC\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h5r3HAJh8es?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\r\n<h2>Sodium Batteries &#8212; Lithium&#8217;s Bigger Brother<\/h2>\r\n<p>Lithium is the third lightest element and is generally considered the most suitable material for making lightweight, high-power batteries.\u00a0 Sodium sits directly below on the Periodic Table, indicating it has similar chemical properties, but is much heavier:<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73029\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73029\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73029\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-periodic.jpg\" alt=\"Sodium on periodic table.\" width=\"400\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-periodic.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-periodic-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Periodic_table\">Periodic table<\/a> image is from Wikipedia, but the red comic sans text isn&#8217;t.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>Sodium ions are also considerably larger than lithium ones:<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73028\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73028\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73028\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-size.jpg\" alt=\"Lithium versus sodium ionic radius.\" width=\"300\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-size.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-size-198x300.jpg 198w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73028\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The red spheres represent the relative size of lithium (Li) and sodium (Na) ions. Sodium ions are 29% wider and have 2.14 times the volume of lithium ions. (Image credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ionic_radius\">Ionic Radius<\/a> Wikipedia.)<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>The relative size suggests sodium ion batteries will always be larger and heavier than those using lithium. But Australian sodium gel batteries use unique reactions to create highly efficient and energy-dense batteries.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Lithium battery cells require precision engineering. They can fail, degrade, or even catch fire and explode from minor manufacturing errors.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Central Queensland University research team found that a gel substrate electrolyte spontaneously generates sodium ion channels that efficiently transfer current between anode and cathode materials. This eliminates precision engineering and the associated manufacturing costs.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73026\" style=\"width: 477px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73026\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73026\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-channel.jpg\" alt=\"Sodium ion channel\" width=\"467\" height=\"557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-channel.jpg 467w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-channel-252x300.jpg 252w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73026\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A close up view of a sodium (Na) ion channel. (Image credit Wikipedia.)<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>If you want a detailed explanation of how the process works, you can read Dr. Wattle&#8217;s original paper, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AUbbGx6dCOQ\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spontaneous Ion Channel Formation in Sodium Gel Matrices<\/a>&#8220;, published in the Journal of Kenetic Electrochemistry.\u00a0 But it&#8217;s kind of complex, so you&#8217;ll need to be a bit of a clever clogs to get anything out of it.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0When mass produced, it&#8217;s estimated the cost of energy from sodium gel batteries will be under 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).\u00a0 As this includes the energy they contain, it makes them very competitive.\u00a0 But they do have one major drawback compared to lithium batteries&#8230;<\/p>\r\n<h2>They&#8217;re Not Rechargable<\/h2>\r\n<p>The main drawback of sodium gel batteries is they&#8217;re not rechargeable.\u00a0 The reactions they use are too complex to be easily reversed. \u00a0While this may appear to kill the chances of sodium ion gel batteries being a killer app, it&#8217;s not the drawback it appears to be.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Dr. Wattle and her team have designed a system where the battery&#8217;s extremely simple electronics and electrical contacts will be reused, but the very low-cost cells will be replaced when required.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<h2>A Unique Approach To Recycling<\/h2>\r\n<p>Sodium gel batteries can&#8217;t be recharged, so regularly replacing them may seem extremely wasteful.\u00a0 But these sodium batteries have an option for recycling that all other battery chemistries lack.\u00a0 They are edible.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Exhausted battery cells can be used as animal feed, but since they&#8217;re kept sterile, they are safe for human consumption.\u00a0 As the battery gel is derived from yeast, like Vegemite, it&#8217;s a good source of vitamin B1, also known as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thiamine\">thiamine<\/a>.\u00a0 As millions worldwide suffer from thiamine deficiency that can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thiamine_deficiency\">beriberi<\/a> &#8212; which is beriberi bad &#8212; used sodium ion gel battery cells could be a healthy addition to diets.<\/p>\r\n<h2>An Interview<\/h2>\r\n<p>Last week I had the good fortune to be able to Zoom interview the head of the team that developed sodium gel batteries at Central Queensland University, Dr. Matilda Wattle.\u00a0 We discussed the potential world-changing impact of the technology.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 I&#8217;d like to thank you very much on behalf of SolarQuotes for taking the time to talk to me, Dr. Wattle.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. WATTLE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Please, call me Tilly.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you, Tilly.\u00a0 To begin, I&#8217;d like to ask&#8230;<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 I&#8217;m still a doctor, dear.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t spend seven years getting a PhD so I could be considered normal.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 My apologies, Dr Tilly.\u00a0 That must have been a lot of hard work.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. Tilly:<\/strong>\u00a0 It certainly was, but I came out on top!\u00a0 (laughs)<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 My first question is, are sodium gel batteries safe?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh yes, completely safe!\u00a0 Well, if you put a tablespoon of elemental sodium in your mouth, it would blow your head clean off.\u00a0 That&#8217;s because it reacts violently with water.\u00a0 But our sodium ion batteries contain a small amount of sodium in solution acting as an energy carrier.\u00a0 There&#8217;s nothing violent about it at all.\u00a0 Table salt is 40% sodium by weight, and we eat it daily.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 So the battery cells are safe to use?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 They&#8217;re extremely safe.\u00a0 It&#8217;s impossible for them to undergo thermal runaway.\u00a0 If pierced, it will merely damage a cell&#8217;s output rather than cause them to catch fire or explode.\u00a0 And the cells aren&#8217;t just safe; they&#8217;re also highly efficient.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve achieved just over 95% efficiency at converting chemical energy into electrical energy, and 95% of the energy in the anode can be consumed before power output falls off a cliff.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73031\" style=\"width: 323px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73031\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73031\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-alloy.jpg\" alt=\"Sodium\/lead alloy sample.\" width=\"313\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-alloy.jpg 313w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-alloy-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is not a sodium gel battery cell. It&#8217;s a sodium\/lead alloy sample. It has to be an alloy. Otherwise, if your hands got sweaty, it could blow them\u00a0 off.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 Could you explain, in simple terms, just what the anode in a sodium gel battery is?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 The anode supplies the chemical energy that generates the electrical current.\u00a0 A lithium battery uses an extremely basic reaction, while fuel cells can oxidise hydrogen or simple hydrocarbons.\u00a0 But sodium ion gel batteries generate current like living cells and can use more complex, but low-cost, hydrogen oxygen and carbon compounds.\u00a0 These carbohydrates can be sustainably sourced from grains and other plant material.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 And the batteries can actually be eaten?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh yes.\u00a0 I have some every day.\u00a0 Because of the yeast compound we use, an exhausted cell tastes like Vegemite on burnt toast.\u00a0 Some people don&#8217;t like that, but I love it!\u00a0 I can&#8217;t get enough.\u00a0 Because of the sodium, it&#8217;s also quite salty, like Vegemite.\u00a0 Some people don&#8217;t like the taste, but I think they&#8217;re a bit weak!\u00a0 (Chuckles.)\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 It&#8217;s over two years since you demonstrated that a sodium gel battery was possible.\u00a0 What did it take to get it to the point where it&#8217;s now ready to be commercialized?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 A lot of trial and error and hard work.\u00a0 But the surviving members of my team are the best there are.\u00a0 They understand that reaching the top takes dedication to a greater cause and unbending effort, but the rewards are high.\u00a0 To arrive at an optimized electrolyte gel required 666 attempts.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 Six hundred and sixty-six?\u00a0 The number of the yeast?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, that&#8217;s right!\u00a0 (Laughs heartily.)<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 Aren&#8217;t you a little worried it came out at that exact number?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, to tell the truth, we were confident we&#8217;d arrived at the optimum after trial 648, but we kept going just for the hell of it.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have been told the Australian Defence Force is currently trialling your sodium batteries as a replacement for conventional ones.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 That&#8217;s true, but I&#8217;m unsure how much I can say.\u00a0 What I can tell you is we&#8217;re currently working on a prototype EV battery pack.\u00a0 We will revolutionize electric vehicles.\u00a0 By 2035 at the latest, 10% of road transport will have sodium ion gel batteries.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 That&#8217;s 10% of new car sales?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh no, dear!\u00a0 It&#8217;s 10% of vehicles in total!\u00a0 When you look at the cost of our batteries, lithium prices, and depleting petroleum supplies &#8212; it&#8217;s inevitable.\u00a0 I guarantee it!<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 But won&#8217;t that kind of rapid expansion require massive new production capability?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh my, yes!\u00a0 But replacement cell manufacture is so simple it can be done anywhere!\u00a0 Even backward countries will have no problem setting up the required facilities.\u00a0 Creating porous carbohydrate sheets for the anode, producing the lipid bilayer, and even making the electrolyte gel all require simple processes that are easy to replicate.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Currently, we have quite a production line at the University and produce hundreds of cells a day.\u00a0 I love whipping up a new batch of electrolyte gel.\u00a0 We use a commercial mixer and I call it my cauldron.\u00a0 The yeast substrate has such a wonderful darkness to it.\u00a0 (Sighs.)\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Watching it being homogenized is like watching the empty spaces between the stars feed upon themselves.\u00a0 I could sit and watch it for hours, and I often do.\u00a0 Sometimes I talk to it, and it whispers back&#8230;<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 So&#8230; is the yeast your muse?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh no.\u00a0 What I hear are not muses, dearie.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73021\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73021\" class=\"wp-image-73021 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-cells.jpg\" alt=\"Basic sodium ion gel battery cells using Vegemite.\" width=\"740\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-cells.jpg 740w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-cells-300x208.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73021\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">To show how simple it is to manufacture sodium gel battery cells, we created some using only tools we already had in the SolarQuotes workshop using commercially available products. Here are some crude cylindrical battery cells.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<h2>ADF Trials<\/h2>\r\n<p>Currently, the Australian Defence Force is trialling the use of sodium gel batteries for a range of applications.\u00a0 Lighter, less expensive, and &#8212; very importantly &#8212; less explosive energy sources have obvious benefits for defence.\u00a0 They may even help solve a specific problem suffered by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>When Russia invaded, most of Ukraine&#8217;s tanks were older models produced by the Soviet Union.\u00a0 They have since captured many more of these.\u00a0 These old tanks don&#8217;t have auxiliary power units, so operating any tank systems requires running the engines.\u00a0 This wastes fuel and increases the tank&#8217;s thermal signature, making it easier to target.\u00a0 To help solve this problem, Australia is considering sending sodium gel battery packs to Ukraine as an emergency measure.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73023\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73023\" class=\"wp-image-73023 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-discharged.jpg\" alt=\"Discharged Vegemite based sodium ion cells.\" width=\"740\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-discharged.jpg 740w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-discharged-300x149.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73023\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Here are two sodium gel battery cells we intentionally discharged overnight. As you can see, there has been considerable oxidation of the carbohydrate anode. The level of oxidation would be far higher in a properly constructed commercial cell.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<h2>Unhappy Little Vegemites<\/h2>\r\n<p>Not everyone is happy that one of the new technology&#8217;s first applications will be at war.\u00a0 They&#8217;d prefer it to be used for more peaceful purposes.\u00a0 A former research team member, Dr Patrick Brennan, was vocally against it just before his tragic accidental impaling by a defective crucifix falling from a church spire.\u00a0 Critics have also raised several other issues, and I mentioned some of them towards the end of my interview with Dr Wattle.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 Dr Tilly, you&#8217;ve said that perhaps 10% of vehicles on roads could have sodium gel batteries by 2035.\u00a0 That would be around 150 million vehicles.\u00a0 If this turns out to be correct, it would require massive agricultural production to produce the required sodium batteries.\u00a0 It would, in fact, require an amount of food equal to what&#8217;s currently consumed by the world&#8217;s poorest one billion people.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>What&#8217;s more, while expended sodium gel battery cells can be eaten, energy consumed by vehicles or for other uses is no longer available for human or animal use.\u00a0 Exhausted battery cells will only have around 5% of the original food value in the carbohydrate used to produce them.\u00a0 So consuming them is no solution to this problem.<\/p>\r\n<p>If sodium gel batteries are used on a large scale, it could result in widespread starvation among the world&#8217;s poor, as they become unable to afford rising food prices.\u00a0 On top of this, the low cost of sodium gel batteries and the ease of their production will lower the cost of building and operating drones and other weapons of modern warfare, which has the potential to make conflicts arising from food shortages much more destructive.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>So rather than a Vegemite on toast utopia, the future your sodium batteries lead to could be very crumby.\u00a0 What are your plans to avoid or mitigate these possibly disastrous results?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, there&#8217;s no plan, dearie!\u00a0 (Laughs.)\u00a0 Or rather, it&#8217;s all part of the plan.\u00a0 I have lived a very long time, and I can tell you this is how the world has always worked.\u00a0 The rich will have their cars, air conditioners, and wall-sized TVs and won&#8217;t give a damn about the people they impoverish.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>But this is a good thing.\u00a0 My gift to the world&#8217;s poor will be struggle, giving their lives meaning.\u00a0 The weak will fall by the wayside, but the strong shall be saved&#8230; for they shall save themselves.\u00a0 (Chuckles deeply.)<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>ME:<\/strong>\u00a0 I&#8217;m sorry, but&#8230; isn&#8217;t that evil?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>DR. TILLY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh yes, dearie, it most certainly is.\u00a0 (Emits laughter like rolling thunder that seems impossible to be sourced from her small frame.)<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_73105\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73105\" class=\"wp-image-73105 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-burns.jpg\" alt=\"Burning Vegemite sodium battery cells.\" width=\"740\" height=\"651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-burns.jpg 740w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/sodium-burns-300x264.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-73105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">While this technically isn&#8217;t a thermal runaway, if you are foolish enough to place sodium ion gel battery cells on a metal tray, like I was, they will short out and catch fire.<\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world is in crisis on multiple fronts.\u00a0 Global warming is disrupting weather patterns and affecting food production.\u00a0 Electricity grids cannot close down fossil fuel power stations because of a lack of clean energy to fill gaps in renewable production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":72769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battery-storage","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AU Researchers Develop Vegemite-Based Sodium Ion Batteries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An exciting Australian breakthrough in sodium ion gel batteries that could revolutionise clean energy, extend EV range and boost food security\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vegemite-sodium-ion-batteries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australian Researchers Develop Vegemite-Based Sodium Gel Batteries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An exciting Australian breakthrough in sodium ion gel batteries that could revolutionise clean energy, extend EV range and boost food security\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vegemite-sodium-ion-batteries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta 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The 25MW\/52MWh Tesla Powerpack based lithium-ion battery system is part of the Lake Bonney Wind Farm, which is situated approximately 2 kilometres from the eastern shore\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lake Bonney big battery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/lake-bonney-big-battery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/lake-bonney-big-battery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/lake-bonney-big-battery.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/lake-bonney-big-battery.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/lake-bonney-big-battery.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80109,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/northvolt-sodium-ion-batteries\/","url_meta":{"origin":72494,"position":3},"title":"Northvolt&#8217;s Revolutionary Sodium-Ion Battery Packs Serious Punch","author":"Richard Chirgwin","date":"November 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Sweden\u2019s Northvolt is touting a specific energy of 160 watt-hours per kilogram for its newly announced sodium-ion battery cell. While short of the energy density of the best lithium-ion battery cells \u2013 for example,\u00a0 Tesla\u2019s vehicle batteries at the cell level have 190\u2013200 Wh\/kg for LFP and 275\u2013300 Wh\/kg for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"northvolt sodium-ion battery cell","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northvolt-sodium-ion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northvolt-sodium-ion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northvolt-sodium-ion.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northvolt-sodium-ion.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northvolt-sodium-ion.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36301,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wa-renewable-hydrogen-mb1361\/","url_meta":{"origin":72494,"position":4},"title":"WA Government Funding Renewable Hydrogen Feasibility Studies","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Western Australia's McGowan Government has stumped up $1.68 million to support renewable hydrogen feasibility studies across the state. The money is coming from the State Government's Renewable Hydrogen Fund, part of WA's Renewable Hydrogen Strategy that has a goal of setting up Western Australia as a major producer, consumer and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Renewable Hydrogen - Western Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/renewable-hydrogen-wa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/renewable-hydrogen-wa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/renewable-hydrogen-wa.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/renewable-hydrogen-wa.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/renewable-hydrogen-wa.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5370,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/hunts-gong-renewable-targets-redflow-mixed-bag\/","url_meta":{"origin":72494,"position":5},"title":"Hunt\u2019s gong, renewable targets and Redflow: a mixed bag","author":"Staff Writer","date":"February 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here\u2019s our tribute to The Best Minister in the World @GregHuntMP #thanksgreg #auspol https:\/\/t.co\/NByNlvI4dI \u2014 Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) February 13, 2016 It\u2019s been a big week for renewables. 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