The federal government is currently taking submissions on a national battery strategy, which will aim to enhance the uptake, export and manufacture of batteries around Australia.
Australia has abundant renewable energy resources, and many of the minerals – like lithium and vanadium – that form key components of batteries.
According to the government’s issues paper, this, combined with our strong R&D capacity, gives us a unique opportunity to be a world leader in the battery industry.
So: how can the government help us get there?
“One has to spend some money to take it from the bench into prototypes, and then into something that’s manufacturable,” says Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, a chemist at the University of Sydney, and founder and principal technology advisor at battery manufacturer Gelion.
“At each stage, there are different levels of technology readiness that need to be tested, complied with, before you have a mass-produced product. And that is expensive,” adds Maschmeyer.