Sodium-based batteries for storing renewable energy cheaply and the recycling of lithium-ion batteries are among the challenges to be researched at a new NIS 130 million ($37 million) national institute inaugurated on Tuesday at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

Based at Bar-Ilan but to be run in conjunction with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in the northern city of Haifa, the body will oversee the development, training, and commercialization of energy storage technologies.

Much of the world is transitioning from fossil fuels that contribute to climate change to more sustainable sources of energy, such as solar and wind.

Storage is critical given that these sources of power are often not available at all times. For example, there is no solar energy when the sun doesn’t shine.

It is also an essential tool for managing the electricity grid.

Most storage today is provided by batteries that require the mining of finite resources such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, in processes that are highly polluting and often use child labor.

Lithium also gradually loses power, as anyone with a cellphone will know.

“The........

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