Techniques for purifying lithium and for optimising its effectiveness in batteries means that lithium is a valuable commodity that could revolutionise the way that we harness renewable energy in the future. This may bypass our need for fossil fuels.

The British government has been warned that it is not on track to meet its target of 15% of the UK's energy to come from renewables by 2020. This comes as the government is set to cut its subsidies for renewable energy and could result in legal action.

The government are planning to cut the feed-in tariff currently provide to subsidise the solar panel industry in the UK. The cut of 87% - which may be introduced as early as January 2016 - will discourage homeowners from using solar panels and is predicted to result in up to 27000 job losses in the solar panel industry.

The Climate Council have suggested that due to the development of cheaper batteries with higher storage capacity, 50% of homes in Australia could be powered by solar panels by 2020. Many battery companies are focused on marketing their products in Australia with one leader Tesla aiming to have their batteries in Australia homes by the end of 2015.