Making batteries out of liquid metal

At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Prof Donald Sadoway and his team have been developing a completely new type of battery made up of liquid metal which could be used to store energy from renewable sources.

Wind speeds, along with the amount of sunlight we receive, vary from day to day, so the amount of power generated by these renewable sources fluctuates.

Prof Sadoway hopes his technology could solve this problem, known as intermittency, thereby making renewable sources of energy competitive with traditional sources of power.

Dr Paul Burke from the Sadoway Lab showed BBC News around the development of the batteries.