Humanity faces a crisis: temperatures are steadily rising due to the effect of CO₂ emissions on the global climate caused by large-scale and still increasing consumption of fossil fuels - but sustainable sources of energy are hampered by high costs and changes in weather that cannot be controlled.  

CO₂ acts as a blanket that keeps more of the sun’s heat in. Left unchecked, this is predicted to lead to sea rises, mass extinctions of species whose habitats have been destroyed, and significant issues with producing enough food – risking the future stability of human civilisation. 

Most of the world’s governments have agreed to urgently try to limit this damage by moving to sources of energy which do not emit CO₂.  

However, sustainable sources of  energy, such as wind and solar, are beyond human reach – we cannot  control how sunny or windy it is, in the same way we can turn power stations up or down.

Today’s electric cars cannot travel as far as petrol or diesel vehicles and are still too expensive for most people to buy. 

This project seeks to research new batteries that might be cheaper and  potentially better than the lithium­ ion batteries that currently power smartphones and modern electric cars.

These batteries might also sit on the electricity grid, storing wind or solar power when electricity generation exceeds demand. This energy could then be used when it is dark or the wind is not blowing, making renewable energy steady and reliable.