Posts Tagged by battery cost
Zinc-Air Battery — Hot New Breakthrough in Battery Cost
| September 28, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Energy Storage |
Of course, the world has every right to be skeptical of the company and its claims, having seen zinc air batteries “trotted out” every year or so for the last four decades, and investors have been routinely disappointed – and in some cases actually duped. The issue is optimization. It’s easy to optimize one parameter, but at the expense of others. I’m reminded of the old saw: “You want it inexpensive, soon, and of high quality. Pick any two.”
But again, I happen to believe these people have made the breakthrough they claim. “The only thing it has in common with past efforts in this arena is that it uses zinc and it uses air; everything else about the design is unique,” the company’s president told me when I first met him in his office in New York a few months ago.
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Liquid Ammonia as Fuel – More on the Subject
| June 4, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Energy Storage |
I figured that my posts on Renewable Energy World on liquid ammonia would eventually get some response. I had been wondered how it could be possible that so few people were working on projects in this area, as it really does seem like an important idea. In particular, as a liquid energy storage medium, it has the potential to solve three tough problems simultaneously. In addition to being clean, safe, reliable, and scaleable, liquid ammonia can help in:
1) Moving large amounts of energy around a large land mass (like the lower 48 states) in a way that would compete with electrical. (Proponents point out that a great deal of this piping infrastructure is already in place.)
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Electric Vehicles and Better Place
| August 15, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
David Holden writes:
I am no adherent of Shai Agassi’s dubious scheme, but it does show the willingness of power companies to support EV. development.
As long as think has come up, here are my thoughts on Better Place.
1) I know the world is clamoring for electric vehicles, and that’s a good thing. But rushing headlong at Better Place seems very strange to me. At a minimum, it’s monopolistic. The state governments, e.g., California, are handing this guy a monopolistic position that is sure to be abused. By contrast, the cell phone companies (who are still making money hand over fist) must compete with one another. I suppose you have to give Agassi credit that he is able to talk his way into this position, but I find it outrageous.
2) Having said this, I really don’t think it’s the right solution for the United States anyway. I know I can be accused of optimism, but I see the entire “chicken-and-egg” or “Catch 22″ of EV production, battery supply, battery energy density, battery cost, charging infrastructure, and consumer acceptance/demand unravelling roughly in sync with one another over the coming decades. Will there be “fits and starts?” Of course.
