---
title: "Although lithium batteries have many advantages, they also have many…"
date: 2019-11-28
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# Although lithium batteries have many advantages, they also have many…

*November 28, 2019 · Facebook*

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[https://www.essinc.com/energy-storage-applications/off-grid-microgrid/](https://www.essinc.com/energy-storage-applications/off-grid-microgrid/){target="_blank"}
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Although lithium batteries have many advantages, they also have many disadvantages. Among them include:\
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\* fire / explosion hazard\
\* expensive\
\* contain toxic heavy metals\
\* limited number of discharge cycles\
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However, there are other battery technologies that don\'t have these downsides. One of them is iron flow batteries.\
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Iron flow batteries have the following advantages:\
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\* composed of non-hazardous iron, salt water, and a membrane.\
\* can be built with commodity, off the shelf components.\
\* 4+ hours of storage time\
\* entirely recyclable\
\* no fire hazard / explosion risk\
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The main downsides of iron-flow batteries are:\
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\* new technology, so not as proven as other technologies\
\* large size (due to low energy density)\
\* weight\
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For seasteading purposes however, weight isn\'t necessarily a disadvantage, as the battery can serve a dual purpose as ballast for the ship.\
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And size is not as much as an issue, as there is vast amount of space on the ocean. Although they would require a bigger hull, hulls only contribute about 30% of the cost of a fully fitted out ship.\
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Although not widely used yet, they have been built and tested in real operating environments (such as military bases):\
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[https://www.essinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/The-Life-and-Death-Value-of-Energy-Storage-in-Military-Microgrids.pdf](https://www.essinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/The-Life-and-Death-Value-of-Energy-Storage-in-Military-Microgrids.pdf){target="_blank"}\
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ESS, Inc seems to be one of the main companies pushing the technology:\
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[https://www.essinc.com/energy-storage-products/](https://www.essinc.com/energy-storage-products/){target="_blank"}\
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The CEO of ESS gives a presentation on the topic here:\
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[![YouTube video](img/2019-11-28-fb-002-yt01.webp){style="max-width:100%; display:block"}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovZXBXtG9no){rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"}

▶ Watch on YouTube
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#battery\
#permaculture\
#seasteading
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