The Energy Crisis impacted the European Lead-Acid Battery Industry in 2022, and Energy Efficiency has become an even more critical topic. Other world areas may presently be less impacted and follow a different strategy. However, among many companies,  PENOX, passionately believes that contributions toward lower energy consumption are relevant to creating a more sustainable future. The formation of batteries is a crucial production step and the process with the highest electrical energy consumption. In 2019, PENOX started with the development of ‘Advanced Red Lead’ to bring additional value to the battery industry through more stable processes and energy reduction. This innovation of PENOX follows the concept of tuning the performance of regular red lead by special surface treatment and other surface functionalization. Such enhanced generation of leady oxides, called ‘Advanced Oxides’, offers the following characteristics: (i) specific particle size to support a stable porosity of the active mass that is beneficial for enhanced mass utilization, ( ii) adjusted content of beta-PbO to support a strong backbone of the formed positive active mass (PAM) for high cycle-life, (iii) improved tetrabasic structure by surface functionalization of the oxide with tetrabasic seeding crystals in the PAM, and ( iv) the option of improved conductivity by functionalization of the leady oxides. ‘Red Lead Plus’ (RL+), introduced to the European market by PENOX in  2021, is one example of such innovative, functionalized oxide to be used in the PAM. This presentation will show how PENOX is collaborating with the battery industry to drive the innovation of ‘next-generation’ oxides to support a sustainable energy future for lead–acid batteries.