Are we making progress with rechargable batteries yet...?

(Credit: Image courtesy of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC))

So many things to choose from today so I'll go with the one with the most immediate social import.  (I'm forgoing for now a followup on my underappreciated post on Fluorescent Proteins - instead Im going to put a quick update for any interested, in that post.  Is that a collective cheer?  I'll follow on any comments in that post for the next 24 hrs)

There is energy all around us and someday we will have access to amounts of power that will make the amount of energy we use today look like a penny to our economy.  When we unlock the power of fusion, or even find a way to pipe energy down from space*, its possible we will solve all of our energy problems.  But that's not today.

In any event, as we move away from a fossil fuel based energy system towards renewables the problem is often storage.  When you hear about the coming "hydrogen economy" what is often unsaid is that, among other problems, hydrogen is difficult to store in quantities that are useful, where they are useful.

Research now is being focused in storing the hydrogen in metals, often at the nanoscale:

Much research effort has been directed at absorbing hydrogen in metal powders, forming so-called metal hydrides. Magnesium may absorb up to 7.7 weight per cent of hydrogen, and has commonly been studied for this purpose, especially since fast loading and unloading of hydrogen can be accomplished by adding catalysts like iron and nickel particles.

But for all its hype, its far more likely that renewable resources like wind and solar will have a more immediate impact.  But they both have a major problem: they're unreliable.  They depend on the varagies of the weather.  What would be most useful is if we could have a method of storing that energy reliably for when we actually need it, like on rainy windless days.  Im sure I will do upcoming posts on some novel methods for storing the power but new battery technologies are, again, more likely to have an immediate impact. 

Today, I spotlight one such new battery breakthrough - air fueled batteries:

The new design has the potential to improve the performance of portable electronic products and give a major boost to the renewable energy industry. The batteries will enable a constant electrical output from sources such as wind or solar, which stop generating when the weather changes or night falls.

An early demonstration model of the STAIR (St Andrews air) cell.

Improved capacity is thanks to the addition of a component that uses oxygen drawn from the air during discharge, replacing one chemical constituent used in rechargeable batteries today. Not having to carry the chemicals around in the battery offers more energy for the same size battery. Reducing the size and weight of batteries with the necessary charge capacity has been a long-running battle for developers of electric cars.

The STAIR (St Andrews Air) cell should be cheaper than today's rechargeables too. The new component is made of porous carbon, which is far less expensive than the lithium cobalt oxide it replaces.

This particular discovery also highlights the benefits of government sponsored research into basic research.    

The four-year research project "An O2 Electrode for a Rechargeable Lithium Battery" began on 1 July 2007 and is scheduled to end on 30 June 2011. It has received EPSRC funding of £1,579,137

EPSRC is the main british governmental research agency into the physical sciences.  Oh, those Brits, they're funny.

1.00 British Pound = 1.53 U.S. Dollars

Stay Tuned...