Something else to read Junior Miners are taking note - A team of scientists at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research have recently discovered a fast magnesium-ion solid-state conductor that will go a long way towards making non-flammable batteries with more capacity. Researchers are settling on magnesium scandium selenide spinel, which has an ion mobility comparable to electrolytes found in lithium ion batteries. Currently, lithium-ion technology dominates; however, the safety and long-term supply of lithium remains a serious concern. Magnesium is more abundant than lithium and also has a higher melting point than other materials. Apart from being much safer for consumer applications, magnesium-ion technology is appealing fundamentally because each magnesium ion gives up two electrons per ion - twice the charge, whereas each lithium ion gives up only one.