Redox flow batteries are an energy storage technology initially developed by NASA in the 70's for space applications. After several years of intensive R&D, in 2006, several key patents on the technology expired, opening up the arena to companies all around the world.

Things will have to change in order that they remain the same (i.e., Li-ion batteries are here to stay). From the 25th to the 27th January around 300 stakeholders in the battery business gathered in Berlin to discuss battery innovation in Germany. The fifth edition of Batterieforum Deutschland, the prime event organised to foster a Li-ion battery ecosystem in Germany, took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel near Potsdamer Platz, with three topics as the main sources of engagement for the attendees: battery manufacturing in Germany, advanced Li-ion chemistries, and stationary storage. The event was organised by KLiB, a public-private partnership of the German government and some national battery stakeholders. In this premium article, we will focus on battery chemistries.

IDTechEx finds that the construction, agriculture and mining part alone will be an $81 billion market in 2027 with considerable opportunities for consolidation of players and technological breakthroughs with major market disruption and creation.

In 2017, China has moved further against lead acid batteries and the horrific injuries and deaths they cause in China at the smelting and disposal stages.

"Death by a Thousand Cuts" was the brutal appraisal of the power generation goliaths by Jeffrey Eckel of Hannon Armstrong, the leading energy investment house, at the Barclays Future Energy Conference December 2016 in London.

his useful half day conference revealed the views of motor company and academic experts and a user/ reviewer of electric cars.

Analysts at IDTechEx have issued a new report, Electric Boats and Ships 2017-2027 looking at this fragmented but often highly profitable and growing sector.

These past 12 months have seen numerous celebrity deaths, athlete drug scandals and the end of Brangelina however, it was also the year Tesla announced fully automated cars, Alexa became part of the family and Leicester City won the Premier League. As we plan ahead for 2017, IDTechEx analysts have taken a look back over the past 12 months and picked out the most impactful technology launches, acquisitions and products from 2016. Happy New Year from all at IDTechEx!

The industrial and commercial sector is the largest part of the electric vehicle value market and that will continue to be the case according to analysis in the unique IDTechEx report, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles 2017-2027.

IDTechEx expects EVs to create significant electricity demand in about ten years and be key to huge improvements in local noise and air pollution and in global warming reduction.

The very structure of the bus is changing with electrics, mechanics and electronics previously made as "components-in-a-box" being replaced by structural electronics - the roof is the solar, the dashboard is the instruments - all as smart materials.

Buses are very important. Injuries and deaths from two wheelers have not reduced very much in decades whereas vehicles with four wheels or more have seen huge improvements.

In 2016, Li-ion batteries celebrated their silver jubilee, i.e. they have been on the market, virtually unchanged, for the last 25 years. While this anniversary marks and underscores their worldwide success and diffusion in consumer electronics and, more recently, electric vehicles, the underlying technology begins to show its limitations in terms of safety, performance, form factor, and cost.

Watch our preview of the IDTechEx Show! coming up in Santa Clara on Nov. 16-17 (www.idtechex.com/usa).

Toyota and Daimler presented at a recent IDTechEx conference on their fuel cell vehicle programs. A questioner asked them to reveal the unique selling proposition of fuel cell vehicles. They said there is no USP.

The South Korean giant Samsung just got itself into dire straits as the story behind the reported battery fires related to the Galaxy Note 7 unfolds even further. As of September, 92 accidents have been reported in the US alone.

Management theory says that a manufacturing company should only vertically integrate - like Tesla with its Gigafactory - when the technology is mature so you can pare off the last pennies in cost without the technology being superceded.

Pure electric short range trucks are rapidly becoming viable as they face much tougher local and global emissions regulations.

Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman of analysts IDTechEx, was interviewed 27 July by BBC Television World News in a live program transmitted worldwide. The subject was the opening of the Tesla battery gigafactory billed as the world's largest factory building.

The saying is, "In a gold rush, get there first, sell shovels". The "shovels" of the EV business are covered in the unique new IDTechEx report, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles on Land 2016-2026.