Advances in batteries/energy thread

[Politico]

You mean nuclear powered solar batteries?

 

[mamooth]

Chevy Spark to be first EV to crack $20K barrier.

Chevy Spark EV Priced at $19,995 After Federal Incentive; 36-Month Lease is $199 Per Month With $999 Down

Okay, that's counting a $7500 federal tax credit. But then, some states give additional tax credits. The Spark rolls out in California and Oregon starting in June, and is an all-electric vehicle with an 82 mile range.

 

[ScienceRocks]

In a major endorsement of the fusion energy research and development program of start-up Lawrenceville Plasma Physics (LPP), a committee of senior fusion researchers, led by a former head of the US fusion program, has concluded that the innovative effort deserves “a much higher level of investment … based on their considerable progress to date.” The report concludes that “In the committee’s view [LPP’s] approach to fusion power … is worthy of a considerable expansion of effort.”

Lawrenceville Plasma Physics has been developing an extremely low-cost approach to fusion power based on a device called the dense plasma focus (DPF). In contrast to the giant tokamak machines that have been the recipients of most fusion funding, a DPF can fit in a small room. LPP’s final feasibility experiments and planned commercial generators will use hydrogen-boron fuel, which produces no radioactive waste and promises extremely economical clean energy.

The committee of researchers was led by Dr. Robert Hirsch, a former director of fusion research for the US Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development Agency. Other members of the committee were Dr. Stephen O. Dean, President of Fusion Power Associates and former director of fusion Magnetic Confinement Systems for the Department of Energy; Professor Gerald L. Kulcinski, Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Professor Dennis Papadopoulos, Professor of Physics, University of Maryland. The committee was organized by Dr. Hirsch at the request of Mr. Alvin Samuels, an investor in LPP’s effort, to give an objective assessment of the program. Neither Mr. Samuels nor LPP had any control over the committee’s conclusions.

Senior Fusion researchers give major endorsement to Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Work and say they expect feasibility will be shown within two years with adequate funding


Former US Fusion Energy Chief, Senior Researchers Say Start-up’s Fusion Program Merits Much Higher Level of Investment

An independent scientific review indicates that an economical and clean source of fusion energy may soon become reality.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Derek Shannon, Eric Lerner

Tel: 732-356-5900

E-mail: derek@lpphysics.com, eric@lpphysics.com

Dec. 10, 2013 - MIDDLESEX, N.J. -- In a major endorsement of the fusion energy research and development program of start-up Lawrenceville Plasma Physics (LPP), a committee of senior fusion researchers, led by a former head of the US fusion program, has concluded that the innovative effort deserves “a much higher level of investment … based on their considerable progress to date.” The report concludes that “In the committee’s view [LPP’s] approach to fusion power … is worthy of a considerable expansion of effort.”

Lawrenceville Plasma Physics has been developing an extremely low-cost approach to fusion power based on a device called the dense plasma focus (DPF). In contrast to the giant tokamak machines that have been the recipients of most fusion funding, a DPF can fit in a small room. LPP’s final feasibility experiments and planned commercial generators will use hydrogen-boron fuel, which produces no radioactive waste and promises extremely economical clean energy.

The committee of researchers was led by Dr. Robert Hirsch, a former director of fusion research for the US Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development Agency. Other members of the committee were Dr. Stephen O. Dean, President of Fusion Power Associates and former director of fusion Magnetic Confinement Systems for the Department of Energy; Professor Gerald L. Kulcinski, Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Professor Dennis Papadopoulos, Professor of Physics, University of Maryland. The committee was organized by Dr. Hirsch at the request of Mr. Alvin Samuels, an investor in LPP’s effort, to give an objective assessment of the program. Neither Mr. Samuels nor LPP had any control over the committee’s conclusions.

- See more at: Former US Fusion Chief: Focus Fusion Merits Higher Investment

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hydrogen squeezed from stone could be new energy source

Scientists from the University of Lyon have discovered a new way to split hydrogen gas from water, using rocks.

The method promises a new green energy source, providing copious hydrogen from a simple mixture of rock and water.

It speeds up a chemical reaction that takes geological timescales in nature.

In the reaction, the mineral olivine strips one oxygen and hydrogen atom from an H2O molecule to form a mineral called serpentine, releasing the spare hydrogen atom.

The results were discussed at this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, and have been published in the journal American Mineralogist.

The researchers heated olivine minerals in water to a couple of hundred degrees Celsius, and added a little bit of ruby (aluminium oxide) to the mix to provide a source of aluminium atoms.

The whole mix was placed into a miniature pressure cooker, formed of two diamonds, that squeezed the mixture to 2,000 atmospheres pressure.

BBC News - Hydrogen squeezed from stone could be new energy source

 

[Old Rocks]

Hydrogen squeezed from stone could be new energy source

Scientists from the University of Lyon have discovered a new way to split hydrogen gas from water, using rocks.

The method promises a new green energy source, providing copious hydrogen from a simple mixture of rock and water.

It speeds up a chemical reaction that takes geological timescales in nature.

In the reaction, the mineral olivine strips one oxygen and hydrogen atom from an H2O molecule to form a mineral called serpentine, releasing the spare hydrogen atom.

The results were discussed at this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, and have been published in the journal American Mineralogist.

The researchers heated olivine minerals in water to a couple of hundred degrees Celsius, and added a little bit of ruby (aluminium oxide) to the mix to provide a source of aluminium atoms.

The whole mix was placed into a miniature pressure cooker, formed of two diamonds, that squeezed the mixture to 2,000 atmospheres pressure.

BBC News - Hydrogen squeezed from stone could be new energy source

Hmmmmmmmmmm........ Any process operating at 2000 bar using diamond anvils has a real problem when it comes to scaling.

 

[ScienceRocks]

New CZTS Solar Cell Efficiency Record

Solar Frontier, a Japan-based thin-film solar technology company, has reportedly broken the CZTS solar cell efficiency record, in partnership with IBM and TOK. The efficiency record was set on a solar cell 0.42 square centimeters in size.

The new record is 12.6% efficiency. The previous record of 11.1% was held by IBM, Solar Frontier, and partners, so that’s quite a jump.

Read more at New CZTS Solar Cell Efficiency Record | CleanTechnica

 

[ScienceRocks]

Science moving closer to creating power through nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion is pretty much the holy grail of power sources. In development for over 60 years already, the creation of electricity through nuclear fusion has been the goal of generations of scientists. If we ever achieve a self-sustaining, controlled fusion reaction we will have basically harnessed the power of the stars. A new breakthrough, published yesterday by the University of Twente in the Netherlands has brought us closer than ever to that lofty goal.

The basic problem of nuclear fusion is that it occurs at incredibly high temperatures. The plasma at the heart of a reactor in which the process takes place can reach 150 million degrees Celsius. That kind of heat needs a strong force to control it, something on the order of a magnetic field 13 of teslas in strength. Basically, the forces and stresses inside a fusion reactor are crazy-strong and they tend to wear out any equipment that they come into contact with pretty dang quick. That's where the new breakthrough comes into play: weaving.

By weaving two superconductive wires responsible for generating these magnetic fields together with a single copper wire, the resulting cable gains an increased resistance to heat fluctuations. The weaving process can then be repeated until the massive cables needed for a fusion reactor have been constructed. It also turns out that when you increase the pitch (or length across which the copper wire spirals) of this two-to-one weave, the cables become way more efficient at mitigating heat. When that happens, because their excess heat is being sloughed off constantly, fusion reactions can be maintained.

Maintained reactions mean reliable energy output, which could very possibly lead us to harnessing the energy production methods of the cosmos. That's some seriously awesome weaving.

Science moving closer to creating power through nuclear fusion | DVICE

http://www.utwente.nl/en/archive/20...-step-closer-to-nuclear-fusion-power-station/

 

[RGR]

Science moving closer to creating power through nuclear fusion | DVICE

Good thing we've got abundant fossil fuels in the meantime, by the time science moves some more closer, and then finally gets it to work, and then finances it, and builds the full size model, and then discovers that the cost supply curve isn't quite as advantageous as they thought, and begins to design the next version, we won't be sitting around in the dark. Good thing we've got those fossil fuels to tide us over a few decades....or centuries....

 

[flacaltenn]

And that is why there's a shit load of states with 10, 15 and 20% wind and solar powering them Keep sprouting the bull crap! I never said move totally away from fossil fuels and in fact I am for nuclear

Those 'records' for states are pretty meaninless since the generation was done randomly and not according to actual demand.. Not one Baskin Robbins has EVER been powered by solar or wind. When you can DO that --- then you have an ALTERNATIVE. Right now what you got is a crap shoot in terms of powering a modern society...

BTW -- MANY of those solar PV improvemnt articles ADMIT that there only market niche is in spacecraft or other cost insentive applications.. You might require a small amount of platinum in a catalytic converter, but its not the size of a parking lot...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Algae To Oil In 1 Hour

While electric cars are becoming increasingly popular with those seeking an alternative to oil, liquid fuels and combustion engines are going to remain a dominant force for decades to come. One of the most promising alternatives to fossil fuels is oil produced from algae, and researchers have developed a new process that takes just minutes to turn pond scum into carbon-neutral fuel.

Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a continuous chemical process that turns wet algae into useful crude oil, the big difference being the use of wet, rather than dry algae. See, most algae-to-oil processes require energy-intensive drying of algae, before it can be converted into oil. Utah-based Genifuel has licensed the technology, and is in the process of building a pilot plant to create the algae oil en masse.

The entire process from algae to oil takes less than an hour, with water and phosphorus (which can be used to grow even more algae) being the main byproduct. From there, the algae oil can be further refined as either diesel, gasoline, or aviation fuel. While there are literally dozens of algae oil research operations just in America, the fuel remains incredibly expensive to produce and would require oil prices to skyrocket in order to be price competitive. This latest breakthrough could change all that.

Read more at Algae To Oil In 1 Hour | CleanTechnica

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Someone needs to come up wih a way of making a battery, capacitor, and whatever else so we can harness lightning strikes. The rapidity being the issue. So we need something that can absorb a very short pulse quickly and not blow up.

 

[flacaltenn]

Someone needs to come up wih a way of making a battery, capacitor, and whatever else so we can harness lightning strikes. The rapidity being the issue. So we need something that can absorb a very short pulse quickly and not blow up.

I would never discourage even the most DESPARATE attempts to add to the list of "renewables"..
There's been serious work on harvesting lightning...

IEEE Xplore - A new source of renewable energy from lightning stroke: A small scale system

....... a small-scale laboratory is set up based on natural characteristics of lightning. The purpose is to determine the performance and potential of the sampling capacitor as storage for the electricity produced by lightning. In this paper, the results of the laboratory experiment focusing on the sampling capacitors were presented. The capacitors are subjected to 1.2/50μ8, 4.2kV single-stroke impulse voltages. The results show that the small-scale system successfully illustrates the concept of capturing energy from lightning return strokes that can be a potential source of renewable energy.

The more interesting deal I've seen uses lightning to smash water apart and collect the hydrogen as fuel to run the building in which the "smasher" is located. The hydrogen BECOMES the storage mechanism -- no battery/capacitors needed..

Have at it man -- go fly a kite !!!!!

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Nice to see people are working on it. Long as I get an honorable mention somewhere...

 

[flacaltenn]

Nice to see people are working on it. Long as I get an honorable mention somewhere...

You're contribution will be duly noted right under Benjamin Franklin...
Probably be a couple above Al Gore..

 

[whitehall]

If we "wean Americans off fossil fuel" as president Hussein suggests did anyone ever ask him what kind of batteries will power passenger jets in the future? Right now a typical 747 burns a gallon of av-fuel every second.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Organic mega flow battery promises breakthrough for renewable energy

A team of Harvard scientists and engineers has demonstrated a new type of battery that could fundamentally transform the way electricity is stored on the grid, making power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar far more economical and reliable. The novel battery technology is reported in a paper published in Nature on January 9. Under the OPEN 2012 program, the Harvard team received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop the innovative grid-scale battery and plans to work with ARPA-E to catalyze further technological and market breakthroughs over the next several years.

The paper reports a metal-free flow battery that relies on the electrochemistry of naturally abundant, inexpensive, small organic (carbon-based) molecules called quinones, which are similar to molecules that store energy in plants and animals.

Organic mega flow battery promises breakthrough for renewable energy | e! Science News

 

[ScienceRocks]

At long last, new lithium battery tech actually arrives on the market (and might already be in your smartphone)

At long last, new lithium battery tech actually arrives on the market (and might already be in your smartphone) | ExtremeTech

Amprius, a battery startup based in Silicon Valley, is making waves with a new kind of lithium-ion battery that stores around 20% more energy than batteries currently on the market. Unlike most battery breakthroughs that we write about on ExtremeTech, this one is actually here today: Amprius is already shipping its batteries to some smartphone makers, and has recently secured $30 million in funding to develop next-generation batteries that will store 50% or more energy than the current Li-ion batteries. This is massive news for mobile computing, but also for electric vehicles, where energy density per kilo (weight of the battery) is a major factor in the development of long-range EVs.

It isn’t often that we get to write about an actual, honest-to-God, on-the-market battery breakthrough — but it’s definitely not a coincidence that the founder of Amprius, Stanford’s Yi Cui, has been the star of more battery stories on ExtremeTech than any other researcher (by some margin). Yi Cui was the mastermind behind the silicon nanotube anode, the transparent lithium-ion battery, and the everlasting water-based battery. None of those techs are ready for commercial use, though. Instead, Amprius is commercializing something that’s a bit simpler: lithium-ion batteries with a silicon anode (negative; cathode is positive), rather than standard-issue graphite (carbon).

 

[ScienceRocks]

Sugar Battery With Unmatched Energy Density Created
Sugar Battery With Unmatched Energy Density Created | CleanTechnica

A new “sugar battery” possessing an “unmatched” energy density has been created by a research team from Virginia Tech. The researchers think that their new battery — which, it bears repeating, runs on sugar — could potentially replace conventional forms of battery technology within only the next couple of years.

The researchers argue that their sugar batteries’ relative affordability, ability to be refilled, and biodegradability, are significant advantages as compared to current battery technologies, and should give it the edge in competition. They are currently aiming for the technology to hit the market sometime within the next few years.

That will blow a lot of flca whines away with pollution

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hybrid anode quadruples the lifespan of lithium-sulfur batteries

Increasing the range of electric vehicles and improving the storage of renewable energy systems are two examples of the benefits offered by lithium-sulfur batteries. Though they can hold four times the energy per mass of the lithium-ion batteries used today, their considerably shorter lifespan has proven something of a roadblock. Researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have now designed a lithium-sulfur battery with four times the longevity, bringing the technology that little bit closer to maturity.

The team's research looked to solve a problem posed by a chemical reaction between the batteries two electrodes, where the sulfur-containing cathode corrodes the lithium-containing anode, substantially shortening the battery's life.

Over time, the anode disintegrates, with the sulfur dissolving into molecules called polysulfides which pass into the battery's electrolyte solution. As this liquid works as a highway for ions to move from one electrode to the other, the polysulfides follow suit and ultimately cause a thin film to form on the anode's surface. This film grows thicker until the battery is entirely inoperable, in effect shortening its life dramatically.

Hybrid anode quadruples the lifespan of lithium-sulfur batteries

 

[ScienceRocks]

Tungsten diselenide shows potential for ultrathin, flexible, semi-transparent solar cells

Graphene, the two-dimensional lattice of carbon atoms, may be the wonder material du jour, but ultrathin layers of other elements are also proving to be an exciting area of research. One-atom-thick sheets of germanium and tin have shown potential as semiconductors and a topological insulators respectively, and now ultrathin layers of tungsten and selenium have been used to create a diode that could be used in ultrathin, flexible, semi-transparent solar cells.

Although graphene-based solar cells have graced our pages in the past, the electronic states in graphene are "not very practical for creating photovoltaics," according to Thomas Mueller from the Vienna University of Technology. That's why he and his team went looking elsewhere and sandwiched a layer of tungsten atoms between two layers of selenium atoms. The resulting tungsten diselenide (WSe2) monolayer was found to absorb light, similar to graphene, but was also able to use the light to generate electrical power.

Tungsten diselenide shows potential for ultrathin, flexible, semi-transparent solar cells