[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6785\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEU puts its \u0027foot on the accelerator\u0027 of battery research\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBatteries will play a vital role in helping to achieve the EU\u0027s goal of lowering carbon emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels by 2020 \u2013 both by storing energy produced by renewable technologies for use around the clock and for increasing the uptake of electric vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately, the growth in battery technology has not kept pace with the rapid rise in renewable energy generation, while the competition from Asia and the US is stiff. Better battery technology is seen as a key competitive advantage in the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccounting for 14% of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/ghgemissions\/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Eglobal greenhouse gas emissions\u003C\/a\u003E, the transport sector has huge potential for carbon reduction and Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, hopes that a new \u20ac10 million prize to the inventor of an innovative battery for electric vehicles will inject some urgency into this quest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027With this prize, let\u0027s put our foot on the accelerator,\u0027 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommissioner Moedas launched the competition to develop a long-range, rapid-recharge battery technology for electric vehicles on 23\u003Csup\u003Erd\u003C\/sup\u003E February at the second annual European Industry Day event in Brussels, Belgium.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027The concept is simple. We will award 10 million euros to those who can crack the challenge of developing a safe and sustainable battery for electric vehicles,\u0027 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe grand prize is part-funded through the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/article\/you-are-never-going-have-breakthrough-ideas-without-risk-dr-hermann-hauser_en.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEuropean Innovation Council pilot\u003C\/a\u003E in an initiative designed to spur innovation in what is seen as a key enabling technology for the future of the European economy. The EU expects the market for batteries in Europe to reach \u20ac250 billion by 2025.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Europe needs to produce cheaper, better and greener batteries.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EMaro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, EU Commission Vice-President in charge of the Energy Union\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E600 km\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022margin: 0px; text-indent: 0px; -qt-block-indent: 0;\u0022\u003EIn order to win the cash bounty, the winning design should have performance characteristics that are similar to conventional cars with fuel tanks. A car fitted with the new battery should be able to travel 600 km and require no more than five minutes to recharge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe battery should be manufactured from raw materials that are easily found in Europe and should be as environmentally friendly as possible. Any dependency on imported or exotic materials like rare earth metals is discouraged and it is expected that achieving this goal will require a significant advancement in materials science in Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe prize is one of six \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/eic\/index.cfm?pg=prizes\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEIC Horizon Prizes\u003C\/a\u003E that will be awarded for achieving an ambitious goal which solves a major challenge facing society. Participants are encouraged to use their creativity and expertise and to think outside the box.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA successful design would find plenty of potential suitors in European industry seeking to invest in and manufacture the battery on the large scale, creating new jobs in the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso speaking at Industry Day, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, the EU Commission Vice-President in charge of the Energy Union, highlighted the need to scale up Europe\u0027s manufacturing capacity for battery cells. \u0027Europe needs to produce cheaper, better and greener batteries,\u0027 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s not just a technological gap, there\u0027s a production gap to cross as well because, as he pointed out, \u0027we do not \u2026 have a scaled-up manufacturing capacity in battery cells.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGiga factories\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommissioner \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d said that capturing the market would take a required investment of around \u20ac10 billion to \u20ac20 billion in order to create between 10 and 20 \u0027giga factories\u0027 \u2013 large-scale industrial operations for battery production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027While this effort must be industry-led, the\u0026nbsp;scale\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;speed\u0026nbsp;needed means that this can only be a combined effort.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommissioner \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d was on hand as the European Investment Bank inked a new deal with Swedish\u0026nbsp;startup\u0026nbsp;company Northvolt to finance a production line for\u0026nbsp;li-ion battery technology that can be used in cars and other domestic and industrial applications. Former Tesla executive and Northvolt founder and CEO Peter Carlsson said the \u20ac52.5 million loan will help his start-up to construct its demonstration line at what will become Europe\u0027s largest lithium-ion battery cell plant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027Europe is moving rapidly towards electrification,\u0027 he said, \u0027Northvolt\u0027s objective is to build the world\u0027s greenest battery to enable the transition.\u0027 Once the production line is developed, Northvolt hopes to attract investors from private industry to scale up.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe loan is part of a financial instrument called InnovFin \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eib.org\/products\/blending\/innovfin\/products\/energy-demo-projects.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEnergy Demonstration Projects\u003C\/a\u003E designed to facilitate the market uptake of new innovative low-carbon energy technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENorthvolt will also become part of the EU Battery Alliance, an initiative designed to help create a sustainable battery cell manufacturing industry in Europe that can compete with Asian and US manufacturers. One of the aims is to align the needs of technology, industry, regulators and investors around battery manufacture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 alt width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-0nx1xugxvyd8yvfhvshuk3w6ztvww-eqwz3ajof0t2i\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-0nx1XUgXvyD8yvfHVshuk3W6zTvww-EqWz3AjoF0t2I\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]