IBM Invents EV Battery that Facilitates 500 Mile Range

 IBM Invents EV Battery that Facilitates 500 Mile Range  Energy, Energy Storage, Transportation, Zero Emissions  No Responses »
Jan 192012
 

Electric Tesla Roadster - Obtained with thanks from e-connected on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-connected/. Click image for the wallpaper sized 2298 x 1535 pixel version.

IBM discovered a new electrode for lithium-air batteries, and it facilitates driving electric vehicles 500 miles after each charge.

Lithium-air battery technology is recent, but not new. It does have the potential to store a significant amount of energy in a very lightweight package. This is otherwise known as a high gravimetric energy density. Gravimetric energy density is measured in Wh/kg of batteries, or watt-hours per kilogram.

Lithium-air batteries use carbon as their positive electrode (unlike typical li-ion batteries that use oxides of metals such as lithium cobalt oxide), and that carbon reacts with oxygen in the air to generate electricity. Batteries do not store electricity, they generate it.

IBM decided to start work on these batteries due to their potential and discovered that the oxygen in the air is reacting with both the carbon electrode mentioned, ans also with the battery’s electrolyte. This ruins the electrolyte.

So, physicist Winfried Wilcke and his colleague Alessandro Curioni at IBM’s Zurich research labs in Switzerland used the Blue Gene supercomputer to simulate extremely detailed models of the reactions using alternative electrolytes until they finally found a more suitable one, which is confidential.

Winfried Wilcke said: “We now have one which looks very promising,”, but there are several research prototypes t hat have been demonstrated.

Batteries with a higher energy density enable hybrid-electric and electric vehicles to drive further per charge because they are lighter. Lighter batteries weigh down the vehicle less, therefore, the vehicle will be lighter overall and require less energy per mile it travels, conserving the energy in the batteries. This translates to more energy available for driving. Another way to look at it is: Each kWh (kilowatt-hour) of energy takes you further.

A greater energy density also means that fewer batteries can be used to achieve the same range that you would using ordinary batteries, which is usually less than 100 miles in ordinary cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. The Tesla Roadster uses many batteries which enable it to achieve a 244 mile range per charge.

Apart from that, fewer batteries cost less money. So you can either increase the vehicle’s range, or cut the cost by using fewer batteries. I should also add that lighter vehicles are faster and handle better.

So, as you probably realized now: A significantly improved energy density really can have a far reaching impact on vehicles.

Typical lithium-ion batteries such as the lithium cobalt and lithium-iron phosphate types have a much a lower energy density, and as a result of this, electric vehicles powered by them often have a driving range of less than (but not limited to) 100 (160 km) miles per charge. They are, however, more practical than older lithium-air batteries that are unreliable due to chemical instability.

The hope is to have a full-scale battery prototype operational by 2013 and commercial batteries around 2020.

Source: New Scientist

 Posted by Nicholas on January 19, 2012  Tagged with:

Gasoline Fuel Cell Could Boost Electric Car Range

 Gasoline Fuel Cell Could Boost Electric Car Range  Energy, Fossil Fuels, Transportation  3 Responses »
Dec 052011
 

Fuel Cell Powered Chevrolet Equinox. Image obtained with thanks from svacher from Flickr.

Introduction to the Problem

You, like most people, may already be familiar with the fact that electric vehicles have a relatively short driving range compared to traditional gasoline powered vehicles.

Most people do not need to drive more than 40 miles per trip, but range anxiety is a problem helping to prevent the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

People in general would like to have a driving range significantly more than the distance they usually drive, just in case they have to drive far, which is perfectly understandable.

This issue can be addressed, albeit with consequences using a gasoline or diesel fueled backup generator that can either charge the vehicle’s batteries, directly power the vehicle’s motor if the battery dies, provide additional power to the motor if necessary, or combinations of what I mentioned above.

One consequence of including a generator in an EV is that it increases the weight of the vehicle,  it lowers efficiency and degrades performance. Another important consequence is that the generator is expensive, so it increases the initial cost of the vehicle and scares consumers away.

One of the benefits of a backup generator is that it can extend driving range to several hundred miles. Chevrolet did this with the Volt. Volt owners enjoy peace of mind because they can drive even farther than they could in a traditional gasoline only vehicle which provides a range of 300 miles.

Now, back to reality: Gasoline fueled backup generators are expensive and inefficient. They are, however, more efficient than a parallel hybrid gasoline engine due to the fact that they usually operate at their single most efficient speed.

The Invention

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a type of generator which they say would not only boost the range of electric vehicles, but also keep CO2 emissions low.

This could boost EV range because the energy density of gasoline is a high 12,500 Wh/kg. This is a member of the solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) family, which uses a solid ceramic electrolyte.

Solid-oxide fuel cells can be powered by some readily available fossil fuels such as natural gas, diesel, and gasoline, unlike hydrogen fuel cells.

Traditional solid-oxide fuel cells are too large for vehicles, but they say this new one produces ten times more power for it’s size.

This means that it could be ten times smaller than a traditional gasoline engine and produce just as much power, making it a much more suitable candidate (where size is concerned) for electric vehicles.

Another problem with traditional SOFCs is that they have to be heated to very high temperatures of 900 ⁰C  in order to function correctly (this is the operating temperature).

The researchers say that they lowered the operating temperature by hundreds of degrees to 650 ⁰C, which is not only a cheaper and easier temperature to maintain, but cheaper materials can be used.

Higher temperature materials tend to cost more money.

This improvement is impressive, but as is the case with new technologies in general, it could use more improvement. Turning it on and off with each trip would cause too much wear and tear, shortening it’s life, so, for now, it would charge a battery pack. These fuel cells are fossil fueled, so even though they could help to facilitate the adoption of more efficient electric vehicles, they still rely on fossil fuels which are economically and environmentally unsustainable.



Source: Technology Review

Photo Credit: svacher from Flickr.

 Posted by Nicholas on December 5, 2011

Analysis: You’re More Likely to Survive in a Newer Car

 Analysis: You’re More Likely to Survive in a Newer Car  Conservation, Energy, Energy Efficiency  No Responses »
Dec 032011
 

Volvo S60 Interior. Image obtained with thanks from Deebeep Photography on Flickr.

Many people would like to upgrade to newer cars because they tend to be more fuel efficient, but feel as if they are torn between sticking with their “safer” old car that consumes more fuel, or upgrading to flimsier newer cars to improve fuel economy. This analysis was actually conducted by me.

If you look at the statistics here from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you will see that overall, between 1994 and 2009, the number of automobile accidents has not increased. At first this might make you wonder if the safety of automobiles has improved much, because the fatality count hasn’t.

This is actually a good sign because the number of highway vehicles registered in the U.S increased by 21% between 1994 and 2009, but the number of fatal accidents did not. This means that newer cars have a better safety record (where fatality is concerned), but of course, death is far more important than all injuries. This is because when cars pass a certain age, people tend to discard them. Most of the population drove much newer cars in 2009 now than they did in 1994.

The increase in the number of registered vehicles is likely partly due to population increase.

Number of registered highway vehicles in the U.S [Source]:

  1. 1994: 201,801,921
  2. 1995: 205,427,212
  3. 1996: 210,441,249
  4. 1997: 211,580,033
  5. 1998: 215,496,003
  6. 1999: 220,461,056
  7. 2000: 225,821,241
  8. 2001: 235,331,382
  9. 2002: 234,624,135
  10. 2003: 236,760,033
  11. 2004: 243,010,550
  12. 2005: 247,421,120
  13. 2006: 250,844,644
  14. 2007: 254,403,081
  15. 2008: 255,917,664
  16. 2009: 254,212,610


 Posted by Nicholas on December 3, 2011

Algae Gives Scientists Idea of How to Improve Li-ion Batteries

 Algae Gives Scientists Idea of How to Improve Li-ion Batteries  Energy Storage  No Responses »
Sep 102011
 

Traditional lithium-ion battery. Image obtained with thanks from Kristoferb on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kristoferb

Lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries can achieve an energy density of 1,000 watt-hours/kg which is ten times greater than that of traditional li-ion batteries. This means that 1 kg of lithium-ion batteries could store 1,000 watt-hours (Wh) of energy, compared to a traditional one which only stores a little more or less than 100 watt-hours. To achieve this energy density, years ago, researchers successfully developed one with a silicon anode, but there is a problem with this design:

Due to the fact that silicon is brittle, when the silicon anode is absorbing lithium ions, it expands, and when releasing them, it shrinks. This recurrent expansion and shrinkage causes it to crack and malfunction, resulting in an unacceptably short lifespan.

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Clemson University have discovered that using alginate, which is a substance obtained from brown algae enables them to construct these batteries in such a way that they can withstand the expansion and contraction. This new battery stores 8 times as much as traditional li-ion batteries, which is still a noteworthy improvement.

Alginate happens to be used as a binding and gelling agent for other applications.

Potential benefits of this new technology include: Lightweight and long range electric vehicles that also perform better, laptop computers could enjoy a longer battery life provided that these batteries are as small as I think they are, and lighter portable electronics in general. Remember that the energy density per kg is how much energy can be stored in a battery that weighs a kg.

I will keep an eye open to see where this new technology goes. Follow me on Twitter in case I provide an update pertaining to the status of this technology.

Source: Technology Review

 Posted by Nicholas on September 10, 2011

TEPCO Commissions 7,000 kW Solar Power Plant in Japan

 TEPCO Commissions 7,000 kW Solar Power Plant in Japan  Energy, Renewable Energy, Zero Emissions  1 Response »
Aug 172011
 

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Obtained with thanks from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Rama. Click the image to see a larger version of it.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has commissioned a 7 MW (7,000 kw or 7 million watts) photovoltaic (solar panels) solar power plant in Tokyo Bay, Japan, which is to generate enough electricity to power 2,100 homes and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3,100 tons per year. This assumes that the homes require an average of 3.3 kW of power, which is a very common average in developed countries.

The power plant is titled Ukushima and is located on an 11 hectare (0.042471 square miles) site. It consists of 38,000 Sharp solar panels. TEPCO plans to construct another solar power plant titled Ohgishima, one of which is 13,000 kW and will consist of 64,000 panels. It will be one of the largest solar projects in Japan and the combined power output of both Ohgishima and Ukushima will be 20,000 watts, which is enough to power 5,900 homes.

Due to the unexpected Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown in march, that power plant is no longer operational and was rated at 4.7 GW, which is 4,700 MW or 4.7 billion watts. This is one of the top 15 largest nuclear power generators in the world, and therefore was relied upon by an estimated 1,424,000 homes to give you an idea of how significant that plant is to the power supply of Japan.

Continued

Unexpected or unplanned power plant shutdowns result in power shortages, but when an old power plant is going to be decommissioned, that is prepared for by constructing a new power plant. This is not always the case though, there are often backup power plants which can be relied on until construction of the replacement power station is completed. The Fukushima Daiichi power station consisted of rods containing spent nuclear fuel, which generated heat, but the reactor also contained some of those spent fuel rods.

Spent fuel rods are liquid cooled, meaning that a coolant such as water is pumped over them to absorb heat from them, and then the coolant carries their heat outside to a radiator. The pump required for this requires electricity, which comes from the power grid. The earthquake or tsunami knocked out the power, therefore the only way to keep the pumps running and the spent fuel rods in the reactor from overheating was to use the backup diesel generators, which unfortunately malfunctioned, and the situation has since then spiraled out of control and TEPCO is still trying to contain it.

The Japanese government is now faced with the dilemma of choosing where electricity will come from in the future without relying on nuclear reactors or CO2 emission causing fossil fuels. They have decided to utilize solar power plants more and even said that all new buildings will be equipped with solar panels. It is a very bold and controversial move.

I will keep an eye on Japan to see what else they do to address this situation and might update you if anything interesting happens.

Source: CNET

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 Posted by Nicholas on August 17, 2011

The Equivalent of an EV Battery that Charges in Less than 5 Minutes, Without the High Upfront Cost

 The Equivalent of an EV Battery that Charges in Less than 5 Minutes, Without the High Upfront Cost  Energy, Transportation  No Responses »
Jul 172011
 

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If you have not already heard of Project Better Place. It is about developing an electric car battery swapping mechanism that can enable people to literally swap out their car battery packs in exchange for another one which was charged while it was at the swapping station.

In other words: While battery packs that other people dropped off are stored inside the swapping station and are being charged, you would drop off your old battery by driving onto a machine which then takes it out from underneath the car, and installs a new one in the car in less than 5 minutes. It then charges the old one that you dropped off so that it is ready to be installed when the next vehicle stops by for a replacement. “Your” old battery, isn’t actually yours because you paid to lease it.

Simplified: A machine removes your old battery pack at the swapping station, installs a new one, and then charges the old one so that it can be installed in the next car.

You only borrowed it to drive the car 100 miles and then returned it to the station. The objective of this project is to enable to avoid hours of charging when their batteries run out of energy. Long charge time exacerbates range anxiety because if you are running out of energy you know that you will be stuck at a charger in public for hours.

That is very inconvenient and you may not even be able to find one at this time when charging stations are just being installed worldwide.

Better Place announced that next month they will start selling an electric Renault sedan in Israel that is capable of undergoing the swapping process mentioned above. They say that it will be 20% cheaper to own than a gasoline powered car because gasoline is very expensive in that country (about $8 per gallon).

The alternative to battery swapping every 100 miles is long range batteries with up to 300 mile range which are extremely expensive compared to batteries that provide 100 miles of range simply because bigger batteries are required to provide a longer ranger. This is because bigger batteries store more energy.

The advantage of long range batteries is that the vast majority of people could drive to and from work and school every single day, run errands, and much more without stopping anywhere to charge. They would only need to recharge nightly.

Project Better Place appears to be an example of out of the box thinking. I wouldn’t have thought of that. I will update you when I get more information on the progress of this project.

Better Place offers a package that offers 3 years of driving 25,000 miles per year that includes the cost of the car for $46,000. They say that this package is 35% cheaper than owning a gasoline powered car for 3 years. Other packages include the $36,000 cost of the car plus $320 to $470 per month to drive the car for 20,000 – 30,000 km per year. In the case of both packages, the price includes the installations of home charging stations.

As is the case with all new technologies (and ways to use existing technologies like this), Better Place will learn about the drawbacks of this arrangement and tweak it for the sake of improvement in the future.

Source: Technology Review

 Posted by Nicholas on July 17, 2011

World’s First Solar Power Plant that Works at Night Constructed

 World’s First Solar Power Plant that Works at Night Constructed  Energy  No Responses »
Jul 062011
 

Gemasolar has completed the construction of the world’s first solar thermal power plant that is to generate electricity all day and night without interruption or variability.

This is a 19.9 MW plant with 15 hours of what is called thermal energy storage to back it up. It stores energy in what is sometimes called a salt “battery” which is not actually a battery but a tank of salt which is capable of storing large amounts of heat which can then be used when needed at night or during cloudy weather to boil water to produce steam which is needed to drive electricity generating steam turbines. Heat is actually thermal energy, hence the term thermal energy storage.

You probably already guessed that when weather is cloudy, there is not as much energy available and the power plant generates less than it is supposed to, therefore the stored heat compensates for that and keeps it at full power 24/7.

The issue of the variable power production of solar power plants has plagued that industry for a very long time and that is starting to change. This is one of two solar thermal projects that store energy for use at night time and during cloudy weather. Here is another that is to be constructed.

The salt solution is 60% potassium nitrate and 40% sodium nitrate. This is called a baseload power plant. Baseload power plants provide electricity reliabily all day without interruption or uncontrollable variability.

This project is one of two energy storage milestones that will likely lead to more similar projects in the future if they prove themselves to be viable.

Source: Forbes.

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 Posted by Nicholas on July 6, 2011  Tagged with:

45 Mile Wi-Fi Range is Now Possible with Lower Power Consumption Than Ever

 45 Mile Wi-Fi Range is Now Possible with Lower Power Consumption Than Ever  Energy  3 Responses »
Jul 042011
 

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45 mile Wi-FI transmitter. Courtesy of On-Ramp Wireless.

On-Ramp Wireless has invented a new way to transmit Wi-Fi which does not just entail using more power to strengthen the signal, but less (which is one reason why this news is on this website).

Wi-Fi signals become more and more distorted as they propagate through the air, and of course, after a while it becomes too distorted to be usable after 1/20 of a mile due to noise. This basically limits the range to the interior of buildings and this also limits the potential uses of Wi-Fi to applications within buildings as well. Imagine if you could connect wirelessly and even cheaply to someone 45 miles away without using the internet? How about while using less energy? You could also eliminate all of the network cables in the largest buildings cheaply and efficiently.

The transmitter in the image at the top of this page can do all of that.

This transmitter achieves that by utilizing an algorithm that transmits it at the same frequency, but in such a way that it is more resistant to noise so it can propagate through the noisy environment over a 45 mile distance.

Another energy related advantage of this is that it could facilitate fewer smart grid access points due to the fact that traditional access points don’t transmit nearly as far, so more are needed so that more access points are closer to buildings with smart meters.

The smart grid concept involves utilizing computer and network technology to enable power plant operators and residents to more effectively match the power production of power plants with power demand to reduce the imbalance of day and night time power consumption.

I will keep an eye open to see what happens with this technology and keep you updated if possible. Subscribe when the e-mail address field slides up at the bottom of the screen, or simply create an account by clicking register to the left of the page.

Thank you for reading and please comment, rate, tweet and “share” or “like” this article. Or you can just click the follow button below to follow me on Twitter.

Source and more details: Technology Review.

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 Posted by Nicholas on July 4, 2011

GE Develops More Adjustable Combined Cycle Power Plant

 GE Develops More Adjustable Combined Cycle Power Plant  Energy, Fossil Fuels  No Responses »
Jun 232011
 

Dampfturbine - Steam Turbine From Nuclear Power Plant. Obtained with thanks from cheesy42 on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheesy42/

General Electric (GE) says that it has developed a combined cycle power plant consisting of a natural gas and steam turbine which has the unique quality of adjustability (to a limited extent).

This plant’s power production can be increased at a rate of 50 MW or 50,000 kW per minute and is capable of maintaining greater than 60% efficiency even when generating only 40% of the maximum power rating.

Traditional steam power plants not only take a very long time to start, but they are also too inefficient to be practically adjusted enough to meet electricity demand, so the operators of these plants end up generating too much electricity at night and it is wasted, and during the day, they either barely meet electricity demand and are backed up by peaking generators or they generate too much electricity during the day and night. All of this is because electricity demand spikes and drops throughout the day, and daytime spikes are enormous.

Traditional steam power plants worldwide and especially in the United States are usually fueled by coal, natural gas and nuclear reactors. They are also less than 40% efficient so they waste more than 60% of their fuel as heat. This invention can help to back up all power plants for whatever reason, plus it can compensate for shortfalls in solar and wind power whether it is used at the wind and solar plants or if it is connected to the electricity grid elsewhere. They all contribute power to the grid.

This is why solar and wind power plants have been successfully integrated so far without storing the energy they generate, they are backed up by surplus power generated by other plants as well as hydroelectric power plants which are adjustable. They are limited to only a fraction of overall electricity generation if there is nothing put in place to back them up or help match their power production with demand (smart grid).

This power plant is also capable of starting in as little as 30 minutes if needed to backup another if there is a malfunction. I don’t know how well this power plant will actually perform in reality, but one is being constructed and we will see what happens. I wish that project the best.

Source: GE

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 Posted by Nicholas on June 23, 2011

Public Transportation Poll

 Public Transportation Poll  Energy  No Responses »
May 272011
 

People have varying reasons for avoiding public transportation. Please select your main reason. Please comment as well. Even if you do utilize public transportation sometimes, this poll is relevant to you, it is relevant to everyone because I want you to select the greatest problem that you have with it, whether or not you use it.

Public transportation includes bus, train, passenger jet, and ship based travel. Each of which has advantages. One thing that they have in common is that they are the cheapest modes of transportation.

They also share flaws such as time inefficiency and insecurity if not guarded.

[polldaddy poll=5090496]

 Posted by Nicholas on May 27, 2011
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