Posted by
George Faulkner in
Today, a vast majority of the world’s oil is burned for transportation. Energy sources such as wind, geothermal and solar power, fluctuate continuously and can do little to reduce oil consumption unless the energy produced can be harnessed and stored.
Many experts believe the solution may lie in the development of an efficient, affordable energy storage network. Simply stated, energy storage – not energy generation – is seen as an important step toward the future.
A key part of current electric energy storage research will be influenced by the work of a consortium that hopes to develop next generation lithium batteries able to power electric vehicles for 300 to 500 miles on a single charge. This research may uncover major advances in larger-scale power storage for future electric grid applications. This next-generation battery is called Lithium-air.
On this episode of Building a Smarter Planet, Winfried Wilcke – Chairman of the Almaden Institute, and Senior Manager of Nanoscale Science & Technology at IBM talks about the research and development behind Lithium-air and why he feels it is so important to the future of energy storage.
Audio Content
Previous post
11:02 am
[...] in electrical energy storage and battery technologies are well known. We even published a podcast on this topic Monday. These limitations and the implications it has for future sustainable energy programs will be the [...]
Posted by: Beyond Lithium Ion: Scalable Energy Storage - Watch live now. | A Smarter Planet
12:44 pm
Very inspiring topic. Energy storage technology has not progressed as fast as other fields and it is in need of a major step forward. I see more and more wind turbines being built, a very capital intensive venture. But without a battery, it behooves one to see how wind powered energy can be used for transportation. The harnessing of tidal power is another major area of pursuit. Without question, storage is needed to complement all the power generation sources.
Posted by: David
10:36 pm
There is obviously a lot to know about this. There are some good points here.
I’m Out! :)
Posted by: online stock trading advice
12:29 pm
Great article in the NYT’s about next-gen battery storage: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/science/15batt.html?_r=2
Posted by: george faulkner
12:42 pm
Tokyo Tests Electric Taxis: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/08/better-place-taxis/
Posted by: George Faulkner