Archive for category Energy Storage

Zinc-Iron Redox Flow Battery for Grid Energy Storage Almost Ready for Market

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage on April 24, 2013

Working under the radar for years, Zinc-Air Inc. is probably a battery company that you’ve never heard of, but now that they’re maybe six months away from marketing a new grid energy storage battery, they’re coming out of hiding. Who can blame them? Startup battery companies have often overhyped, not only their technology, but also [...]

Graphene’s Mechanical Strengths Overestimated, Scientists Prove

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Energy Storage on April 22, 2013

Graphene has been touted as the ultimate supermaterial – better conductivity, one-atom thickness, stronger-than-steel mechanical performance etc. However, Rice scientists have discovered recently that graphene may not be so mechanically potent, after all. Graphene is made of a single sheet of carbon atoms in a hexagonal pattern. At the very edge of the sheets, where [...]

Electrovaya Lithium-Ion Battery is Non-Toxic and Less-Prone to Fire

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage on April 19, 2013

With concerns over lithium-ion battery flammability and toxicity, adoption of electric and electrified vehicles has been slower than it could have been. Case in point: Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Fisker Karma*. In response to this, manufacturers have been researching how to make their lithium-ion batteries safer. Electrovaya in Canada had to cut back on production [...]

ORNL and GM to Recycle Used Volt Batteries in Grid Backup Supply

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage, Recycling on April 18, 2013

After years and many thousands of miles, the hybrid and electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack performance starts to degrade, but they can’t just be thrown into the nearest landfill. This is a problem that conscientious consumers and automakers are struggling to address. Recycling is one solution, which recovers poisonous metals and other parts of the [...]

Micro-Battery Finally Catching up with Electronics Miniaturization

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage on April 17, 2013

Electrical devices have gotten smaller over time but, in spite of advances in circuit miniaturization, the batteries that power them are still monstrous by comparison. A micro-battery could change all of that. The first cell phone, or what we might recognize as a mobile phone, was produced in 1973 by Motorola, weighed 40oz and took [...]

Niobium Oxide-Based Supercaps Could Replace Batteries

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Energy Storage on April 16, 2013

Researchers from University of California (UCLA) discovered new supercapacitors based on niobium oxide, which will be able solve the problem of energy storage and availability in both batteries and normal capacitors. This new discovery, published in the Nature Materials Journal, can lead to a whole new generation of supercapacitors that are able to store and [...]

New Polymer from Waste Sulfur Enhances EV Batteries

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Energy Storage on April 16, 2013

Waste sulfur could see new life due to a chemical process discovered recently by University of Arizona scientists. The lightweight plastic they created can be used to enhance lithium sulfur batteries and improve the range of electric cars or be used in optical systems. “We’ve developed a new, simple and useful chemical process to convert [...]

BYD Expanding Renewable Energy Storage into Australia

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage, Solar Power on April 15, 2013

By 2030, Australia could be 100% renewable, but without renewable energy storage when the sun goes down, all that development could be a partially wasted effort. Renewable energy depends a lot on the weather. If the sun doesn’t shine, solar panels go dead. If the rain doesn’t fall, reservoirs behind hydroelectric dams go low and [...]

New Jersey Expanding Renewable Energy and Grid Storage

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage, Green Policy on April 13, 2013

By 2020, New Jersey has a goal of having 22.5% of renewable energy generation and could be funding storage solutions in the near future. Big goals are fine, and New Jersey is actually just 3rd in the nation, behind California and Arizona, in the number of solar installations. It may seem counterintuitive to cut funding [...]

Improved Battery Packs Test-Flown on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Will FAA Approve?

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage, Green Policy on April 9, 2013

After fires aboard at least two Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft, the entire fleet of fifty has been grounded since January. The advanced-technology Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s lithium-ion backup batteries are important because they serve as backup power for the plane’s fly-by-wire system. Switching from hydraulic controls to electrical controls, and other weight-saving measures, significantly reduce [...]

Aquion Energy’s Water-Based Batteries Backed by Bill Gates

Posted by Mila Luleva in Energy Storage on April 4, 2013

Aquion Energy received an additional boost from major investors, including Bill Gates, to develop a cheap and environmentally-friendly water-based battery system. The new energy storage technology by Aquion Energy received a total of $35 million in investments. The energy storage units are suitable for small and large-scale energy projects, with test units of the so-called [...]

Dresden Scientists Improve Lithium-Sulfur Battery Lifespan Seven Times

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage on April 3, 2013

Lithium-Sulfur battery technology may be more powerful and less expensive than lithium-ion [Li-ion], but also suffers from a greatly reduced lifespan. Battery technology is one of the leading drivers of price of electric vehicles. Bigger batteries give better range, but add thousands of dollars to the cost of the vehicle. On the other hand, smaller [...]

Boxcars Could Store Renewable Energy With 90% Efficiency – Aided by Gravity

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage, Gravity on April 3, 2013

The system works by storing energy as potential energy driving by gravity. Boxcars heavy with gravel are driven up a 7% grade by electric motors. Renewable energy production is often intermittent and isn’t produced when there is demand for it, which is why energy storage solutions are being researched so fervently. There are various approaches [...]

EnerG2′s Synthetic Carbon Anodes Could Increase Lithium-Ion Battery Capacity 30%

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy Storage on April 3, 2013

Makers of portable electronic devices might be interested in a new synthetic carbon anode that would effectively make a 30% thinner lithium-ion battery. With the growing popularity of portable electronic devices, lithium-ion battery technology is becoming more and more important. Battery capacity is becoming just as important as form factor. Marketing consistently hawks “X hours [...]

Long Lasting Li-Ion Batteries Developed by Hitachi Maxell

Posted by Mila Luleva in Energy Storage on March 27, 2013

Real time monitoring of lithium (Li) ions in rechargeable batteries is now possible thanks to a new technology developed by the Japanese giant in manufacturing of consumer electronics, Hitachi Maxell Ltd. The company also developed a Li-ion battery with 1.6 times higher energy density than their latest product. The technology, which can quantify the distribution of the reaction [...]