European Energy Innovation magazine, Autumn 2025
The 59th edition of European Energy Innovation is out, available in print and as a digital download.
As autumn stamps its muddy boots at Europe’s door, and the sun sets on yet another record summer, I have found myself reminiscing about one of our most ancient shared celebrations – the ‘harvest festival’.
It’s still widely observed in Britain, with children invited to leave cans of non-perishable food at their local church or village hall as both a gesture of spiritual gratitude and a donation to local pensioners. I remember being confused at the time, but in hindsight I feel somewhat privileged to have taken part in such a timeless ceremony. It is still one of the first things I associate with this time of year, alongside the smell of conker husks and the sound of a robin whistling in the mist.
EEI Magazine, issue 59
The cultural obstacles to decarbonising Europe's protein consumption, the ELOBIO project and sustainable hydrogen, and taking sodium-ion batteries with a pinch of salt
Similar rituals and feasts will take place across Europe, from Erntedankfest to Trgatev to Miķeļdiena, all ostensibly expressing thanks for a successful harvest, and many presumably featuring baffled six-year-olds clutching tins of baked beans. It is among the longest-running annual celebrations in human history and (perhaps remarkably) still has a place in today’s secular, urbanised world.
This issue of European Energy Innovation is a seasonal nod to that shared reliance on food and agriculture. Our civilisation is as dependent on food as it was at any other point in the past few thousand years, though we face a mixture of ancient and modern-day challenges. In this edition, MEP Barry Cowen draws parallels between Europe’s nutrition and energy systems – and the criticality of both – while MEP Anna Strolenberg talks about the importance of diversifying and decarbonising our protein sources. Alongside them is British food writer Tomé Morrissy-Swan discussing the opportunities and threats facing lab- grown meat.
A pinch of salt
This issue’s Technology Spotlight falls on sodium-ion battery research, which is an exciting – if not wholly sexy – frontier in both energy storage and mobility applications. We have a new EEI contributor, Liam Critchley, writing in some depth about sodium-ion development and its current state of play, alongside longstanding analyst Xiaoying You providing context on China’s prowess in this particular corner of the battery industry. Turn to page 24 for that.
As a transport enthusiast, I’m particularly excited by the impact this nascent technology might have on EVs, which remain a leading application for these batteries as well as a key driver of sodium-ion research in general. Incidentally, fellow mobility nerds are advised to pick up copies of EEI’s upcoming Winter and Spring editions, as both will feature transport topics.
Back in the autumn issue, EEI is proud to include a technical presentation from ELOBIO, an exciting research project joining the dots between biomass and sustainable hydrogen. And after a short break, the Events section returns to our back pages. EEI is proud to be a print-first publication, and many of our paper copies reach their readers at conferences, workshops, presentations and summits around Europe – if you would like to have print copies at your event, contact a member of our team.
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