Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

10 Commercial Markets for Li–S

Mark Crittenden

OXIS Energy, 20 Nuffield Way, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1RL, UK

10.1 Technology Strengths Meet Market Needs

Commercial opportunities for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) are enormous – the lithium ion (Li ion) “family” of technologies, undoubtedly the dominant performance battery technology over the last decade, has forecasted sales of around $100 billion per annum for 2025. As the performance characteristics of Li–S have been increasingly demonstrated and harnessed over the last decade, this had led to significant investment in Li–S to exploit the commercial potential into this enormous market.

Key for the exploitation of any emerging technology is to understand which markets are most suited to the technology – the so‐called “low hanging fruit” – and initially focus the commercial effort in these areas where companies will have the most success. Thus we will consider aspects that in which Li–S is strong compared to any competing technology, particularly with respect to Li ion, and then in which applications that strength is critical for success – this is where most commercialization activities are seen today.

10.1.1 Weight

Li–S has a theoretical gravimetric energy density (GED) of around 2700 Wh kg⁻¹, which is five times that of Li ion. Beyond the theory, from an engineering and customer perspective, what really matters is what has been achieved already and will be achieved in the near term, and how this can be integrated ...