Kigozi aims at massive production of eco-friendly batteries that can replace conventional activated carbon-based batteries made from fossil fuels.
A scientist at Busitema
University has invented a battery derived from biomass-based materials and
common salt. This kind of battery is likely to be a game-changer for Uganda as
it ventures into Electric Vehicle (EVs) manufacture.
Currently, over 60% of the
parts including batteries used by Kiira Motors (KMC) to manufacture cars and
buses are imported from China. But Dr. Moses Kigozi, a lecturer and
Materials Science and Engineering expert based ta Busitema says with the new
science of fabrication of lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, Uganda can
locally manufacture and end their imports.
“Because currently, we don’t have an existing
plant for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. I convert the locally available
biomass like coffee husks, maize cob, and rice husks, convert them into
graphite which can be used as the anode material or the negative part of the
battery,” said Dr. Kigozi, who holds a Ph.D. in energy storage from India
He says he uses the
common salts from around Lake Katwe to get lithium-ion and sodium-ion to make
the positive electrodes to combine a cell. The cells that Kigozi has are able
to power cellphones and laptops and if combined can power electric bikes.
Kigozi aims at massive production of
eco-friendly batteries that can replace conventional activated
carbon-based batteries made from fossil fuels. “Actually I
want to have value addition to materials that people discard as waste. In one
way, I’m trying to improve waste management because, in every acre of land where
you harvest maize, you only target 20% while 80% is waste. So I use those
materials to reduce the cost of the battery,” Kigozi told URN
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Lithium-ion batteries are
expected to be the core of electric cars in the near future. So far, the power
the electric grids as well as household technology like smartphones and
computers. With the growing popularity of electric cars, it’s expected that the market for lithium-ion batteries will be US
$100 billion by 2025.
But around the world,
there are groups advocating for a reduction in the dependence on lithium in the
manufacture of batteries. The mining of lithium in countries like DRC has been
linked to environmental degradation as well as fueling conflict.
The main raw materials for lithium-ion, lithium, and cobalt, come from the earth, but they take a lot of energy and water to
extract. Lithium is difficult to extract as it’s typically found in trace
amounts. Studies in several continents have confirmed that
biomass from all kinds of waste can be carbonized and used in anodes of lithium
or sodium ion batteries, cathodes in metal‐sulfur or metal‐oxygen batteries, or
as conductive additives. Kigozi in an interview confirmed this.
A more recent study in
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews found that various types of biomass for lithium-sulfur
batteries have grown to be a competitor with Li-ion batteries. “Actually technology has been in existence and every year people try to improve the
performance of the technology. The technology that is currently available, they
are using what we call metal oxides in the positive part of the battery. I’m
trying to reduce that metal and use carbon which is locally available,” he
explained
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So far the dominant battery solution for renewable
energy has been lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Those batteries are prone to
explosions and they don’t last long enough and yet the world will need many
more with bigger capacity but friendly to the environment.
“My process for converting biomass into graphite
is zero emission. I don’t produce any greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide,
hydrogen methane, and others. Everything is captured to improve performance,”
he said
Kigozi kind of battery could attract interest from
automakers like BMW and a group backed by German automobile giants including
Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG that try to “green” image of their electric cars
by using batteries that are not made from metals like lithium-ion.
Kigozi is one of the three Ugandans with extensive expertise in the fabrication
of batteries. His two counterparts already left Uganda for greener pastures.
“As far as I know, I’m the only one with a Ph.D.
in energy storage. I have tried to look around, and the only two friends with
whom we were collaborating from other countries went for greener pastures. One
is working for Tesla and the other is in the USA,” Kigozi revealed.
At Kigozi’s
workstation are rechargeable coin cells powering digital devices like watches,
lamps, calculators, toys, and car remote controls. He also has cells in
pouches for charging mobile phones and makes hybrid supercapacitors that are
also key components needed in energy storage.
“In energy storage, we have
capacitors and batteries. Capacitors are good at giving high power, and
batteries are good at giving high energy. So we need a device that has both,”
he explained.
According to Kigozi, the
tops of the capacitors were threaded from the engineering department at
Makerere University, then the rest was assembled at Busitma University’s
chemistry department. Kigozi told URN that he has not gone into mass
production because he still lacks the machinery needed to do the assembling.
“I have the skills; I
have the materials but I’m lacking the machinery to go full commercial.
Otherwise, the market is readily available,” said Kigozi. While Uganda has about five startups that are able
to assemble rechargeable battery backups for two-wheeler electric bikes, there
is no company manufacturing lithium-ion batteries.
Zembo Electric Motorcycles
Co-Founder Director, Daniel Dreher said what Kigozi is doing is to clear the
ground to launch Ugandans to make cells for electric vehicles. “Because what is happening now, 90% of this market
is Chinese. Even in Germany, there are problems that car manufacturers like
Volkswagen or Mercedes need to buy battery cells from China. While in Uganda we
have a unique opportunity even when landlocked to put those processes into our
country because we have the raw materials” said Dreher
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At a global level, 2022 has seen a sharp rise in
prices for lithium which is a key mineral in the production of batteries for
electric vehicles. Reports indicate that demand for lithium outstripped supply,
pushing prices up almost 500% in a year. According to International
Energy Agency (IEA), the World will need up to 10,000 Gwh of electricity by 2040
to meet the climate goals. That is fifty times the size of the current global
energy production.
