By 2035, gasoline and diesel vehicles should disappear from the automotive market. This is the target set by the EU Commission for the decarbonisation of the transport sector.
In the interview given to “L’Adige”, Edoardo Macchi states that it is “an ambitious date, but the plan is feasible“.
The researcher and Head of the Battery Technologies Area at the Centre for Sustainable Energy of FBK deals with the development of innovative batteries for mobility and stationary applications. Edoardo Gino Macchi underlines the importance of incentives to support companies and citizens in the transition, while a change of skills will be needed in the manufacturing sector where batteries are the cornerstone of this revolution.
An important element outlined by the researcher is the lack of materials in Europe, which does not allow us to be independent from Asian countries, such as China. This is the reason for the creation of the two Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on Batteries which aim at supporting the development of a competitive, innovative and sustainable battery value chain in the EU.
The Head of the Battery Technologies Area stated that with the gradual increase of renewable energy, it will be a must to have batteries capable of long-duration storage such as flow batteries and other technologies (lithium-ion batteries are not the best solution for durations greater than 6 hours).
Another important topic regards the use of lithium-ion batteries batteries in the mobility sector. It is fundamental to give them a second life at the end of their use in vehicles. The batteries can be re-used for the stationary storage allowing a complete usage of the batteries and reducing their environmental impact. The Centre for Sustainable Energy is working on projects related to the second-life and recycling, which is a fundamental topic for Europe that is lacking precious metals used in Li-ion batteries and would therefore be less dependent on other countries.