Better batteries could revolutionize solar, wind power

On a dry hill in Eureka County, New York.
According to a mining company, the company\'s gold production in the 21 st century is equivalent.
Precious commodities are vanadium, a metal that can be extracted from shale, used to make powerful Long
Long lasting batteries for cars, homes and utilities. If Vancouver-
S. -based vanadium company\'s proposed project for gigollini Hill was approved by the Federationa 30-
Public comment period as of May 29
It will operate the only vanadium mine in the United States. Eureka, indeed!
As the United States and other countries face growing global electricity demand and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change deterioration, the fight to build better batteries is intensifying, seeking to expand carbon emissions
Free renewable energy such as wind energy and solar energy.
S. today Energy News is the key.
They can power electric cars and buses directly or indirectly for homes and large buildings by storing solar and wind energy when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow.
They balance renewable energy sources that produce energy intermittently, so consumers can power laptops or refrigerators 24/7 of the time. The race is on.
University, start a business
Ups and major companies are working on new materials such as vanadium, or adjusting lithium-
Sony launched an ion battery for personal electronics more than 20 years ago.
Some advances, such as the 500 electric vehicles Toyota and IBM are developing --
Plus the mileage of one charge, it will not be available for at least five years.
Others made their debut this year, including batteries in Ontario, Canada
Based on Electrovaya, it enables homes with solar panels to be completely out of the grid, or to be paired with a Texas wind farm by GE to provide continuous power.
\"This is the dawn of energy --
\"Storage times,\" said Bill Radvak, president of American Vanadium Company, which partnered with German battery maker Gildemeister.
Storage could be the \"holy grail\" of renewable energy, he said \".
\"There was no major battery market three years ago,\" he said . \" The situation is changing rapidly, he added.
In February, California requested 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, requiring Los Angeles-
Ensure that part of the capacity comes from regional utilities for energy storage.
In May 1, Germany began subsidizing homeowners to buy batteries to store electricity from solar panels, and Germany is shutting down nuclear power plants to boost renewable energy. China\'s five-
The annual plan requires 5% of all electricity to be stored by 2020.
In the United States, the most common form of energy storage is pumped storage, which is about 2% of the power capacity.
According to a report from IMS Research this month, the global market for solar panels to store electricity is expected to explode, from less than $0. 2 billion in 2012 to $19 billion in 2017.
One factor driving this growth is the slump in renewable energy prices, especially solar panels, which have fallen by at least 60% since the beginning of 2011.
As a result, with the development of the US economy, the industrial group reported historic growth. S.
In the last year alone, the power generation of solar panels increased by 76%, and the power generation of wind turbines increased by 28%.
Obstacles to the battery include cost and safety. Lithium-
On January, ion batteries on two Boeing 787 jets failed, causing one aircraft to catch fire and another to smoke.
At, the same manufacturer\'s battery caused problems on two Mitsubishi cars: a hybrid Olander car overheated and a fullelectric i-
MiEV caught fire during testing at the assembly plant.
While the EV industry says these events are exceptions, not rules, funding is also a problem.
Massachusetts, October-
A123 based on lithium
Ion battery makers who spent $0. 132 billion in federal stimulus funds filed for bankruptcy.
December, Universal Motor Corporation of the United StatesS.
Arm, the Chinese auto parts giant, bought a123 technology.
Research on Jaycie properties of Toyota
Ion batteries are too expensive and electric cars are not competitive without subsidies.
At the senior Energy 2013 conference in New York City last month, she said Toyota is expanding its electric vehicle range to meet U. S. demand. S.
Government fuel
Efficiency goals
Not because they make money.
Every new electric rav4 has a $14,000 discount, she said.
The battery needs to be significantly improved, says Mr. chidwood.
Toyota is working on several alternatives, including cheaper and longer
A series of batteries using magnesium instead of lithium.
However, there are still a few years to go before commercializing.
\"Batteries are still a challenge,\" Esther Takeuchi, a chemistry professor at SUNY Stony Brook, said at the same meeting, especially electric vehicles.
\"Things are not what we want, but they are getting closer and closer.
\"Her university and some other universities with federal funding are not only focusing on new chemical mixtures, but also on nanometers.
Dimensions of chemical elements-
Or make them tiny.
Make them more efficient.
Successful batteries usually have specific applications such as lead, Takechi said.
Acid for automatic ignition or lithium-
Iodine for pacemakers
She said lithium.
Ion works well in the phone and laptop that was originally used.
Richard Mueller, a physics professor at the University of California, wrote: \"The battery will improve, but not as we have seen in recent years . \"
Berkeley, in his 2012 book, energy for future presidents: Science behind headlines.
He said that the growing demand for portable electronic products has accelerated-
Battery technology.
He said it will take some time for new products such as lithium to be commercialized. air.
Batteries are just one of the many ways to store the gridscale energy.
The most common is pumping water and electricity, in which water is delivered to the reservoir and then released to run the generator.
\"Storage is the glue that connects the grid together,\" said Matthew Malone of GE Energy . \".
GE opened a $100 million factory in New York\'s Schenectady. Y.
Earlier this month it was announced that Nvidia will install its brilliant wind turbine with Durathon Batteries at a wind farm in Texas later this year. The U. S.
The government is promoting energy storage.
On November, DOE announced grants for 23 R & D projects and selected the Argonne National Laboratory in the sick Lemmon.
As the first national innovation center for batteries and energy storage \".
Within five years, Argonne will receive $0. 12 billion in revenue.
Batteries have received special attention because of their wide use.
Although pumping water and electricity facilities require a large amount of land and water and are used for utilities --
Scale projects, batteries can be used anywhere and are easy to scale, so they can power not only the car, but also the factory.
\"Everyone finally realized, \'Hey, this works. \'. . .
This is the key to the future, \"said Brad Roberts of the power storage association of the industry group.
The industry\'s problems are part of its growth, he said, adding: \"I don\'t see any hesitation from venture capitalists.
\"The replacement for Allan Schurr at WORKSIBM is very optimistic about his company\'s new lithium --
The air battery, which absorbs oxygen from the air, forms a chemical reaction that generates a charge.
It\'s lighter and more dense than lithium.
Most electric vehicles today use heavy metal oxides to drive ions that produce chemical reactions to electricity.
\"So far, we have seen performance in our tests that has met or exceeded our expectations,\" he said . \".
He said, charging 500 miles at a time, \"you will remove \'remote anxie\' from the equation.
\"The current Nissan Leaf can drive 75 miles on a single charge, Mitsubishi I-MiEV, 62 miles.
Schurr is expected to develop a prototype next year, but its commercial availability will take at least five years.
Toshiba has developed a rechargeable lithium battery.
Ion Battery SCiB with new oxide
Materials based on titanium lithium allow faster charging times.
Honda Fit electric car and Mitsubishi I-MiEV. Huge lithium-
Ion battery, charge 53-
Foot container for grid-scale projects.
Since September 2011, on the ridge of Mount Laurel in West Virginia, AES Storage has used them to store 64 MW of energy generated by windmills.
This capacity will be enough to power nearly 50,000 of the U. S.
Family for one year.
The battery is also taking home from the grid, or providing-up energy.
Sun City, California-
Solar-based installation is being piloted
Providing batteries for some solar projects in California, this year may extend this option to other states. Minnesota-
The SolarBank system, based in Juhl Energy, pairs solar panels with batteries. Detroit-
Power supply system based on Nextek provides portable shutdown
Power grid options that combine solar panels with batteries. Ontario-
Electrovaya, based in the United States, plansS.
This year, Canada is testing a residential system that will install solar panels and a largeenough lithium-
The home can completely separate the ion battery from the grid.
Sankar Das Gupta, CEO of the company, said the average price was less than $10,000.
Add such a battery to the solar array.
\"None of the battery technology is unique --size-fits-
Said GE\'s chestnut.
Each technology has its own strengths and weaknesses, he said, adding: \"The market is big enough that each technology can survive.
\"Vanadium in the United States said that the mobile battery using vanadium has a longer life and is more powerful than lithium.
Ions, because they can absorb and release a lot of energy quickly, and can do this thousands of times.
They can be used for grids-
Larger projects and smaller lithium
The vanadium battery can power the vehicle.
Radvak said that if his project is approved, it can provide 5% of the world\'s vanadium supply and help reduce battery costs.
The Land Authority is reviewing the project and will hold a public meeting on Tuesday in Eureka, which said the mine could lead to the loss of larger pine chicken habitat and livestock grazing areas.
\"There are no consequences for mining operations,\" Radvak said . \".
But he said that the Eureka Mine does not need to move a large number of the Earth, because vanadium is in the surface sediment and can be simply leaching with sulfuric acid.
\"This is a very low one.
\"Risk projects,\" he said.
Radvak said that the United StatesS.
Lagging behind other countries in energy storage, especially Germany, he expects Germany to be the world leader in the long run.
Common battery vocabulary: even with different metals, batteries often work in the same basic way.
They are small power plants that generate electricity by generating chemical reactions.
When atoms move between two different metals through a chemical solution called an electrolyte, the voltage they produce is discharged through the metal wire on the other side. Lead-
Acid: (automatic ignition ).
Their atoms are transferred from metal lead plates to solid oxidized lead plates through sulfuric acid. Lithium-
Personal electronic products, electric vehicles.
They have carbon at one end and metal oxides at the other end, using lithium salt from organic compounds as electrolyte in the middle. Lithium-
Air (still under development;
Possible uses include electric vehicles ).
They use lithium metal and oxygen as inputs at both ends. Nickel-
CD (portable electronic, electric vehicle ).
Their metal plates are Oxidized nickel-hydrogen oxide and cadmium. Sodium-
Sulfur (electric vehicle, power grid-scale storage).
A kind of melting
Salt batteries are made of sodium and sulfur.
Oxidation-reduction flow of vanadium (grid-scale storage).
They used a metal called Vanadis -- vanadium.
Scandinavian beauty and goddess of youth-
Store chemical energy for reuse in different oxidation states.