advanced batteries

battery/shutterstock

Two years ago I reminded readers of this column that advanced battery technology is not a race, it is a boxing match. The early rounds have not gone well—somewhat predictably. But today with JCESR, Secretary Chu announced that the United States is bringing out the other arm. The next rounds may end differently.[read more]

In observing the recent struggles of various segments of the global cleantech industry, including renewable energy and advanced energy technology firms, a pattern is emerging. Today's Wall St. Journal reports "Wind Power Firms on Edge," as the US wind industry hunkers down pending the renewal or expiration of a key subsidy at the end of...[read more]

Photo by mariordo59 via Flickr, Creative Commons

If you could wave your handy dandy magic wand and create a single technological breakthrough that would make a huge impact on our intertwined climate and energy challenges, you’d be hard pressed to come up with something better than a killer battery.Find a way to make a battery pack that greatly exceeds the range of those in the Leaf,...[read more]

The government badly needs to set a strategy for grid-connected energy storage. In a time of constricting budgets, it is critical that the few dollars available to develop this important technology are spent where they are most needed and where they will produce the greatest return for U.S. taxpayers. Grid-connected storage is a promising technology, which has the potential to address some of our nation’s greatest energy challenges. It would be a shame if the limited government funding for it simply becomes another give-away for a wide range of commercial interests.[read more]

My take away from the conference is simply this: Over the past several years advanced electrochemical energy storage has captured the imagination, not just of the public, but of much of the scientific community as well. The problems in advanced battery science are real and in some respects daunting. But the best minds we have are now on the problem. A bet on advanced batteries is less a bet on a technology than a bet on human ingenuity itself. I’ll take that bet.[read more]

Through a series of improbable coincidences, Cortés’ strategy worked out well for Cortés, which is the only reason we know the story of the burning ships today. One cannot help wondering, however, in reading this week about the unfortunate end of the JCI-Saft battery joint venture, whether a similar strategy did not work out so well for Johnson Controls, Inc.[read more]

The recent run up of gas prices certainly makes electric vehicles potentially more attractive to consumers. But counting on high gas prices alone to promote electrification is not a good bet. Consumers have many options to reduce gas expense—buying fuel-efficient four cylinder cars being an obvious and inexpensive one. To capture the automobile consumer and break the stranglehold of petroleum on the U.S. economy, the price of electric vehicles must be brought sharply down. And there is only one way to do that: By reducing the cost of the advanced batteries that power them.[read more]

We must recognize that the skeptics are to some extent right. A few thousand PEV’s will make little difference to American energy security or to the environment. Vehicle electrification only makes sense if it includes a significant portion of the national automotive fleet. PEV’s must be made attractive to mainstream consumers if our massive national investment in them is to be justified.[read more]

We will see over the next week how much of a political football ARPA-E and similar energy research programs have become. In the meantime, let’s root for the optimists. But we must also start thinking about alternatives. ARPA-E is a great idea and a good program. But this week’s lesson should be that we have to keep thinking about new ways to fund critical advanced energy research. Building the electric vehicles that ultimately replace petroleum-fueled cars will require as much creativity by policy and financial experts as by experts in battery and materials sciences.[read more]

Earlier this week, I attended a meeting on Capitol Hill sponsored by the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition.  The purpose of the meeting was to meet with Hill staffers and discuss the importance of research and development funding for advanced battery technology.  Speakers from Argonne National Laboratory and the...[read more]

Samuel Johnson once observed that nothing concentrates the mind like a hanging. If Dr. Johnson were alive today he would undoubtedly add the corollary that nothing concentrates the mind on the tenuous nature of oil supplies like political turmoil in the Middle East.[read more]

State public utility commissions that approve and oversee in the vast majority of national electricity infrastructure investment suddenly find themselves at the precise nexus of national energy policy needs and the emerging energy technologies that can address them. It is essential that over the next few years the advanced battery industry and the developers of other advanced energy technologies engage with state public utility commissions as never before.[read more]

Given that the last two years have seen an unprecedented level of federal funding and support for advanced batteries and electric vehicles, it is reasonable to ask: what are the implications of the election for the U.S. advanced battery industry? The answer is probably: not many.[read more]