Battery Breakthroughs on horizon

[greenman3610]

In a world of Moore's Law, fuel cell cars and iPods, the humble battery stands out as a poor performer. Modern lithium-ion batteries are certainly lighter, less toxic, and somewhat more capacious than the nickel-cadmium or lead-acid batteries of days gone by, but these are incremental improvements -- and they still rely on the kinds of electro-chemical processes used by the clay jar batteries of 2000 years ago. If we're ever going to have a world of widespread electric transportation, useful mobile devices that can run for days, and remote sensing gear able to monitor the planet for years, we need something better.

Fortunately, that something better may soon be here. The last few months have seen a startling number of announcements in high-efficiency, high-utility power storage. Most combine well-understood designs with cutting-edge nanoscale engineering -- and all have the potential to change how we think about power. Read on for a sampling.

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004158.html#more

[Warpy]

1. Combined with the new photovoltaic cells in the works,

this is really, really good news, and probably the kind of stuff Stupid was hinting at when he mentioned something about some great, new breakthrough technology.

I love my electric moped and use it for most trips. I only use the truck when I have to go a long distance or haul a lot of stuff. I look forward to the day I can charge it as efficiently using a solar panel as I can by plugging it into the wall. Improved batteries will be a help, too, although at 2 years the present pack shows no sign of slowing down.

[sam sarrha]

2. and the new crystal coated LED lights.. that use 39% less energy.. if we

that Wet Brain Alcoholic Drug Addict Sociopath Paranoid Megalomaniac doesn't F*ck every thing up the world has a good a chance of working out pretty good

[buddysmellgood]

6. Power electronic control technology that can save up to half the energy

consumed by every refrigerator, air conditioner washing machine etc. is ten years old. A government mandate to include this in every new unit sold would make this inexpensive to include. It would even increase fuel efficiency in cars. People would conserve without even knowing they are conserving.

[skids]

3. First out the gate...

...will be inside these power tools in May:

http://www.dewalt.com/36v/

...made by these folks here:

http://www.a123systems.com

[buddysmellgood]

4. Toshiba annouced this last year. I wonder how it's doing.

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm

[skids]

5. Everyone's wondering.

Toshiba sold off some of it's stake in batteries a while back. Noone knows if they are still
pursuing it. :eyes: