Announced on February 14, the Obama administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) budget recommendation is a big valentine to those working on developing batteries for electric vehicles. As we said last year, the current administration has focused the majority of its vehicle technologies research and development dollars on EVs. This is a significant reversal from the attention given to fuel cell vehicles and biofuels such as ethanol during the second Bush administration. As with last year, the request completely omits funding development for these two technologies, which is a significant blow to the companies developing those alternatives. For fiscal year 2013, the DOE is requesting a total allocation for the Vehicle Technologies program of $420 million, down from the $588 million requested last year, but still a 27-percent jump over the $329 million that Congress actually approved last ...

Stuffed into the envelope with the electricity bill is sometimes a little pamphlet telling you where that energy comes from. Sometimes, it’s pretty detailed; other times, not so much. But the percentage of energy coming from renewable sources often isn’t that high, and part of the reason for that is that renewable energy is generated in bursts and is then hard to store. Energy storage on a large scale would help even out the intermittent nature of renewable energy; in fact, techniques such as batteries and fuel cells are used on smaller scales right now to manage grids with high percentages of renewable sources. The problem with wide-scale use is that energy storage systems are not cheap. The Falling Cost of Technology While energy storage tech is expensive now, any consumer will note that the price of technology (whether that’s computers, ...

Renewable energy such as solar has a basic problem: No sun , no power. In order to make it more usable the Power must be stored for off peak use when the sun does not shine. Batteries though die when repeatedly recharged. Stanford researchers have developed part of better battery, a new electrode that employs crystalline nanoparticles of a copper compound. In laboratory tests, the electrode survived 40,000 cycles of charging and discharging, after which it could still be charged to more than 80 percent of its original charge capacity. For comparison, the average lithium ion battery can handle about 400 charge/discharge cycles before it deteriorates too much to be of practical use. Rechargeable batteries have their energy content restored by charging, some deterioration occurs on each charge—discharge cycle. Low-capacity NiMH batteries (1700—2000 mA·h) can be charged for about ...

Tesla’s Roadster is one of the sexiest electric cars on the road, and their new sedan looks pretty sweet, too. Not only does it seat up to 7, there’s also a performance model available (0-60 in 4.5 seconds!). Helping keep costs down so more of us can ride in this sweet silent sedan is Panasonic, providing the lithium-ion battery cells.

Both companies say that the agreement will help Tesla meet its costs and margin targets for the Model S, according to a statement released Tuesday. As the base model is priced at $57,400 (before the applicable federal tax credit, which is $7,500 and any other incentives), it’s anyone’s guess what that margin is. The Roadster, in comparison, costs upwards of $109,000 (presumably using the same type of batteries, but hey, it’s a sports car).

Panasonic’s involvement with Tesla ...

Researchers at MIT have designed a device the size of a U.S. quarter that harvests energy from low-frequency vibrations, such as those that might be felt along a pipeline or bridge. The tiny energy harvester — known technically as a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS — picks up a wider range of vibrations than current designs, and is able to generate 100 times the power of devices of similar size. “There are wireless sensors widely available, but there is no supportive power package,” says Sang-Gook Kim, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and co-author of the paper. “I think our vibrational-energy harvesters are a solution for that.” The motivation behind the research is to overcome one limit that wireless sensors, which are ubiquitous across several industries, face: power. Their batteries need regular changes. In order to do away with ...

A serialized version of ILSR‘s new report, Democratizing the Electricity System, Part 3 of 5. Click for Part 1 or Part 2.

The Political and Technical Advantages of Distributed Generation

 

While technology has helped change the economics of electricity production (in favor of renewables and distributed generation), this new dynamic can as easily be controlled by the incumbent utilities as the old paradigm of centralized fossil fuel power generation.

The cornerstone of the distributed generation revolution is its potential democratizing influence on the electric grid, the opportunity unlocked for local ownership and the coincident political support for more renewable energy. In no place is that clearer than in the public support for renewable energy.

An increasing number of renewable energy projects (primarily wind, but also large-scale solar) have met with resistance from local residents or environmentalists. Centralized, remote generation might seem to avoid NIMBY issues by placing wind turbines or solar power plants far ...

Japanese researchers are developing a new system that they say could ultimately power electric vehicles (EVs) for travel across “unlimited” distances without the hindrance of heavy batteries. While based on railway infrastructure in which individual cars are powered through overhead wires, the new EV technology would convert energy from overhead power lines into radio frequencies and transmit these frequencies to a metal track embedded under the surface of the road. The prototype electric vehicle, being developed by Toyota Central R&D Labs and Toyohashi University of Technology, is able to convert this radio frequency to functional voltage through a circular steel belt installed inside the tires. The researchers have already demonstrated the feasibility of their design through low-power laboratory experiments and argue that achieving an energy transfer of tens of kilowatts would make possible unrestricted expressway driving for EVs. Article appearing ...

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