Sustainable solutions to the energy and climate crises

Europe is going through a tough period: war in the Ukraine, continued effects of the pandemic, disrupted supply chains, rising inflation, and even energy security has become an issue. Households and businesses are facing increasing pressures on their budgets as prices of food, fuel, and energy rise.

In the UK, inflation has risen to 7% – the highest rate in 30 years[1] – and the European Union saw even higher rates in March 2022 at 7.8%.[2] Households will be facing a 54% increase in their annual energy bills in the UK, which amounts to approximately £2000[3] more than last year, and the energy price cap is expected to rise again in October 2022. Rising inflation and energy prices have worsened energy poverty across Europe, with more than 35 million Europeans unable to keep their homes warm this winter, which equivalent to the combined populations of Greece, Portugal, Hungary and Ireland.[4]

Finding solutions to supply affordable and sustainable energy for homes, businesses and transportation is now more important than ever. Luckily, most of the technologies needed to solve our energy and climate crises are already available; they include electric vehicles for transport, solar and wind power for clean electricity, batteries for energy storage, heat pumps for space heating, and energy efficiency measures such as insulation to reduce our energy demand. If applied correctly, these technologies are typically cheaper over their lifetime than their fossil fuel alternatives – provided that their lifetime is long enough. This is not a problem for technologies like insulation, solar PV, or wind energy, all of which are expected to last for multiple decades. However, lifetime still is an issue for batteries and the technologies they power, such as electric vehicles and energy storage for homes or the electricity grid. For example, the industry benchmark for the life of a solar power plant is currently 25 years (expected to grow to 35-50 years)[5], while electric vehicle warranties are typically constrained to 8 years[6]. So, if solar and wind power plants are to be supported by battery energy storage, and if EVs are to live as long as their combustion engine counterparts (14 years according to the SMMT[1]), we either need to budget for many battery replacements – financially and environmentally – or we need to make batteries live longer.

This challenge is exactly what Brill Power is addressing. Our patented battery management system (BMS) technology, developed at the University of Oxford, can make batteries live up to 60% longer and can extract more than 120% more energy from used batteries compared to conventional BMS solutions. All advanced battery systems need a BMS, and Brill Power can deliver improvements to all applications, ranging from electromobility to energy storage. The BMS is not only a key component of lithium-ion batteries; new battery types also need a BMS and Brill Power’s software-driven design approach provides the flexibility required by battery system designers to incorporate these new technologies as they become available.

Along with its partners and customers, Brill Power has demonstrated the benefits of its BMS technology for applications in energy storage and electric vehicles. Our first product for stationary energy storage is now commercially available and forms the brain for a new generation of intelligent batteries that are longer lived, more reliable and safer than their counterparts with conventional BMS technology. Only batteries that live as long as the technologies they power can be part of a sustainable solution to the energy and climate crises. Otherwise, we risk creating new issues of unnecessary hazardous battery waste, skyrocketing demand for raw materials and excessive energy demand for manufacturing batteries.

For inquiries on our battery technology and potential collaborations, please contact: hello@brillpower.com. Brill Power (booth: B1.272) will be attending the 2022 Smarter E Europe tradeshow in Germany, Europe’s largest platform for the energy industry. We look forward to the possibility of meeting with you there and to the exciting opportunities of collaboration with others in the energy industry.

[1] Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (2021).  Average Vehicle Age – 2021 Automotive Sustainability Report. Available at: smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/sustainability/average-vehicle-age

[1] Office for National Statistics (2022). Consumer price inflation, UK: March 2022. Available at: ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/march2022

[2] Eurostat (2022). HCIP – monthly data. Available at: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/prc_hicp_manr/default/table

[3] Reuters (2022). As inflation hits 30-year high, UK households start to buckle. Available at: reuters.com/world/uk/inflation-hits-30-year-high-uk-households-start-buckle-2022-02-22

[4] Euronews (2022). Turning up the heat on Europe’s fuel poverty crisis. Available at: euronews.com/next/2022/01/26/turning-up-the-heat-on-europe-s-energy-poverty-crisis

[5] PV Magazine (2021). New metric for 50-year solar plant operation. Available at: pv-magazine.com/2021/12/08/new-metric-for-50-year-solar-plant-operation

[6] RAC (2021). RAC launches new warranty especially for used electric and hybrid cars. Available at: rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/rac-launches-new-warranty-especially-for-used-electric-and-hybrid-cars