Urban Electric Power’s zinc-alkaline batteries win on lower carbon emissions
Sooner than you know it, being just a renewable energy source won’t be enough. The sustainability of every product — from the embodied carbon of its manufacture to its end of life recyclability — is becoming more important. That’s why Urban Electric Power marked National Battery Day (apparently on Friday, Feb. 18 — didn’t you get our card?) by boasting some new carbon emissions test results for its battery versus other battery chemistries.
Boundless Energy Impact Research and Analytics compared Urban Electric Power’s battery — based on the familiar zinc alkaline chemistry of household alkaline cells (e.g. AA) — with lithium-ion, lead-acid, and sodium-sulfur.
The Boundless Energy analysis showed that the greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacturing Urban Electric Power batteries are 82% lower compared to lithium-ion batteries, 72% lower compared to lead-acid batteries, and 71% lower compared to sodium sulfur batteries, with a savings of 15,984 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per US$1 million capital investment in Urban Electric Power batteries. Urban Electric Power’s battery scored a 9.6 out of 10 for overall per-unit impact.
“We conducted an independent environmental impact assessment of UEP’s zinc-manganese battery and found it shows significant climate and environmental improvement on key metrics such as GHG Footprint, Energy Footprint, and VOC Footprint,” said Andreas van Giezen, Senior Research Analyst for Boundless Impact Research & Analytics. “By independently validating data, working with industry experts, and integrating the latest industry data, we ensure a thorough and fair analysis that explains and can help predict which products stand out in their industry vertical.”
You can read the full report right here.
Founded by researchers at City College of New York with a factory in Pearl River, N.Y., Urban Electric Power manufactures and deploys rechargeable alkaline batteries. Its technology relies on zinc and manganese dioxide, which are abundant and safe materials. Its alkaline batteries are aqueous, making them highly fire-resistant. The batteries can be readily stacked to scale capacity and voltage for various market needs from residential power backup, to commercial, to industrial and utility-scale energy storage.
Environmentally safe batteries certified to UL standards are also vital for avoiding any fire risks, making them safe for installation in dense urban environments.
As Boundless Energy noted, “Urban Electric Power’s modular system can be scaled up to provide reliable power to businesses and residences during grid outages. The system can be customized to provide backup supply over periods of hours to days and can integrate with solar-PV and wind systems. This provides increased resiliency to buildings, of particular importance for those with critical loads such as hospitals and emergency services.”
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