Special Report: Self-charging battery technology that can create electricity from humidity in the air or the skin's surface is being developed by Strategic Elements and its research partners.
Strategic Elements Limited (ASX:SOR) through its subsidiary Australian Advanced Materials (AAM) has teamed up with the University of New South Wales and CSIRO for the $1m project.
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The optimisation of the battery cell ink formulation, scaling up production of battery ink to at least 1 litre, and developing a successful prototype connecting several battery cells that produces at least 3.7 volts.
In a short, badly, worded, press release (PR), the South Korean company, SK Innovation, "will promote the commercialization of the carbon dioxide battery technology, which generates electricity and creates hydrogen using carbon dioxide." From the PR, it appears the battery is made of water and carbon dioxide, and works via some type of "electrochemical reaction."
When carbon dioxide is added to water, electrochemical reactions eliminate carbon dioxide, the main culprit behind climate change, generating electricity and hydrogen. This system elevates the conversion efficiency of carbon dioxide to about 60 percent.
It is unclear how this is a "battery." The PR admits as much in the last paragraph.
If commercial feasibility is confirmed, SK Innovation will create a business together with Kim’s team.
An Austin, Texas newspaper, the Statesman, is openly speculating that Tesla will add "battery cell production" to a new Tesla plant already in process. They base their speculation on an unreferenced statement by the CEO Elon Musk and a filing from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. They are not the first to speculate on Tesla and we expect they will not be the last.
To be clear, based on what the Statesman quote, the facility will "produce the battery packs" for vehicles. This means they will do the final assembly of the "battery pack" just before they are installed into vehicles. They will NOT produce batteries at that location.
Without naming Austin specifically, Musk also said Tesla will expand and improve its battery technology and battery cell production.
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An air-quality permit application filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality indicates the facility would include capabilities for stamping, die casting, drive units assembly, cell manufacturing, battery pack assembly, general assembly and paint repair operations. It would also include support equipment such as boilers, emergency engines, a wastewater treatment plant and a cooling tower.
"The facility is proposing to operate a cell-manufacturing unit to produce the battery packs that are installed in the vehicle. The final product from this operation are the cells," the filing said.
For those unfamiliar with battery charging, ANY battery change be charged quickly, not as fast as SuperCapacitors, but definitely in minutes. However, two major problems make this unwise.
There is a potential for the battery to overheat and possibly explode.
If battery does not explode, there is a good change the battery will be damage in a way that shortens the battery life.
Regardless, there are lots of tricks, including making changes in the battery formula. This article from koreabizwire.com outlines the results from the research.
A joint research team from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Sungkyunkwan University announced Monday that they had developed EV battery technology that enables faster and more durable charging.
Thus far, decreasing the size of particles of electrode materials was the primary method to speed up charge and discharge from secondary cells or EV batteries.
The downside, however, was that this method reduced the density of energy in the cell.
The research team came up with a solution that enables quick charge and discharge without loss of energy density by creating an intermediate phase during the phase variation of charge and discharge, without having to reduce the size of electrode particles.
Admittedly, we are suckers for technology that is "off grid". What's better than an outdoor solar-powered bench with lights.
Here is a bit of information from manmonthly.com.au
Australian battery innovator Gelion Technologies has delivered a roll-out of its solar-powered benches at the University of Sydney, taking its battery technology to the pre-market stage.
The Endure batteries that power the off-grid smart benches will be the first commercial installation for the company, which was spun-out from the University of Sydney by founder and chemist, Professor Thomas Maschmeyer.
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The Endure zinc-bromide batteries are optimised for stationary energy storage and could be used to power a range of off- or on-grid applications in the industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential sectors. They are especially suited to hot and remote environments given their high-temperature capability and low-fade characteristics, even if completely charged and discharged on a daily basis.
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Gelion's robust and safe chemistry makes the expensive and complex auxiliary systems typically associated with other battery types unnecessary. As the Endure battery technology does not require air-conditioning, fire suppression or acid catchment areas, the overall costs and difficulty of the battery installation are substantially reduced.
The Endure battery can be transported and stored with zero voltage, a significant advantage for logistics, safety and cost. The gel used in the Gelion platform has fire-retardant properties, making the batteries resistant to overheating and exploding and are therefore ideally suited for tough and remote environments, for example in off-grid and agricultural markets.
If Inficon's pronouncements work as advertised, this will be a major shift in batteries of all type, but most importantly Lithium-Ion batteries. However, the scant details about this new technology make us cautious.
The mass spectrometer and software used with the ELT3000 are critical to assuring the most precise measurement of leaks. The mass spectrometer is highly sensitive and selective, enabling it to provide reliable and repeatable measurements that follow international metrology standards such as those applied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States or the German Institute of Calibration (DKD – Deutscher Kalibrierdienst). Furthermore, the ELT3000's simplified user interface provides an exact and correct measurement process even when used by a relatively unskilled operator.
Dr. Lukas Swan and Dr. Jeff Dahn (Dalhousie University) talk about their lifelong research in energy storage and the future of the industry.
Jeff Dahn is recognized as one of the pioneering developers of the lithium-ion battery that is now used worldwide in laptop computers and cell-phones. Dahn's recent work has concentrated on increasing the energy density, improving the lifetime and lowering the cost of lithium ion batteries.
Lukas Swan is the principal investigator at the Dalhousie University Renewable Energy Storage Laboratory with extensive experience and focused R&D on unique, elegant, and robust solutions to transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Swan's work encompasses variety of battery packs found in electric vehicles, freight trains, grid storage, remote islands, and more.
Dalhousie Renewable Energy Society is a student group that advocates for sustainability in engineering through hands-on experiences in renewable energy design projects and sustainability-focused events.
Last year, Jeff Dahn showed the latest Li-ion battery technology can produce batteries that would last 1 million miles in electric vehicles. While the NEW test results are encouraging and very enlightening, the critique here is the same that is has been used against other battery - using test conditions that would be idealized conditions for the operation of any electric vehicle. In this case, using an electric vehicle for less than 30 miles per day.
To be clear, if an electric vehicle is used "less than 30 miles per day," then the battery will be "discharged between 25% to 50%" and the battery will show "very little to no battery degradation."
Don't miss the side note at the bottom.
A Tesla battery researcher showed updated test results pointing to batteries lasting over 15,000 cycles or the equivalent of over 2 million miles (3.5 million km) in an electric car.
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In a new presentation, Dahn discussed updated test results from this new battery, which he hopes becomes the new standard Li-ion battery against which new battery technologies benchmark themselves.
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Dahn now concludes that these batteries in a medium-range electric car would be able to last over 3.5 million km or over 2 million miles.
He also showed results based on different depths of discharge, which means to what percentage of capacity they are discharging the batteries before recharging them, and it showed the Li-ion batteries performing extremely well after up to 15,000 cycles so far:
Most impressively, the batteries show very little to no capacity degradation when they are discharged between 25% to 50% of their capacity, which is actually how most people use their cars.
On average, American drivers use their vehicles for less than 30 miles per day.
For example, with this battery in a Tesla vehicle with over 300 miles of range, you could use it to commute 30 miles a day and by charging, on average, from 70 to 80% every day, it would result in very little to no battery degradation.
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As usual, Dahn is not disclosing whether or when Tesla is implementing these changes, but with the company now making its own cells, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tesla 4680 cells feature some crazy longevity.
Side Note
An interesting side note in the article is that new Tesla vehicles will giant rovering batteries.
Here is the quote:
Interestingly, Drew Baglino, one of Tesla’s top engineering leaders, has
recently mentioned that future Tesla vehicles will have bi-directional
chargers enabling vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-everything technologies.
There are multiple stories about the finalization of the bankruptcy of Exide Technologies, an American manufacturer of lead-acid batteries. We are blogging with two sources CNS News (via KNX1070) and Los Angeles Times. If you are inclined, here is a Bing link to search for more stories on: exide technologies vernon plant bankruptcy settlement 2020
As is normal for bankruptcy proceedings, the outcome is decided by the debtees - those to whom the debt is owed. That's right, how a bankruptcy ends is decided by those that have a financial interest in the company that claims to be running out of money. There are many parties interested, we won't cover that here. The reason I'm stating this is because you'll hear (or read) lots of nonsense.
For the impact locally to Vernon, just south of downtown Los Angeles, the article from LA Times is pretty good. We'll quote the first two paragraphs from the LA Times
A bankruptcy court ruled Friday that Exide Technologies may abandon its shuttered battery recycling plant in Vernon, leaving a massive cleanup of lead and other toxic pollutants at the site and in surrounding neighborhoods to California taxpayers.
The decision by Chief Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware, made over the objections of California officials and community members, marks the latest chapter in a decades-long history of government failures to protect the public from brain-damaging lead, cancer-causing arsenic and other pollutants from the facility.
CNS News added more detail, but like the LA Times article it reported on those condemming the finalization action
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi in Delaware ruled that there was no "imminent" threat posed by Exide's abandonment of the plant, which resulted in extensive lead pollution in the air and soil in surrounding neighborhoods. State attorneys strongly objected to the settlement reached between Exide and the federal government and vowed to appeal.
The ruling allows Exide to formally abandon the site by the end of the month, after which the state will need to take over environmental remediation efforts. Sontchi in court had harsh words for the state and Department of Toxic Substances Control, suggesting both had failed to timely action to clean up the plant, which was allowed to continue operating for more than 30 years on a temporary permit.
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In 2016, then-Gov. Jerry Brown approved $176.6 million to test soil at properties near the plant and conduct cleanup operations at as many as 2,500 properties near the site. At the time, it was the largest cleanup operation ever undertaken by the state.
A portion of the site is now enshrouded in a large white tent put in place by an Exide cleanup contractor to contain lead contamination inside.
Needless to say, this is not the first, nor will it be the last company to end operations in the shroud of the EPA and State authorites - and leave the public with the bill.
Exide Technologies https://infogalactic.com/info/Exide
Newberry-based startup Ateios has received $1.25 million in Series Seed funding, led by venture capital firm Good Growth Capital in South Carolina. The battery startup says it has developed the world's first customizable, thin-film battery.
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Ateios says its team has been working with Good Growth Capital virtually for the last six months to establish the relationship. Other investors include San Diego-based Keshif Ventures, Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures, and HG Ventures, also in Indianapolis, among others.
The company says its patent pending manufacturing technique for thin-film batteries makes its manufacturing process 10 times faster and one-fifth of the capital cost compared to current battery manufacturing.
In longer article with much detail from the Thurday debate, Joe Biden was noted as giving more details - including the use of solar power and emerging battery technology, we quote
Building out transmission infrastructure is something Biden rarely, if ever, mentions on the campaign trail. It was one of several lengthy answers where the former vice president sought to demonstrate policy depth, as he did on education, tax policy, and even battery storage.
"The battery technology's increasing significantly so you're going to be able to have, for example, solar on your home and a battery the size," making a large box shape with his hands, "in your basement so when the sun doesn't shine for five days, you still have enough energy," Biden said.
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"The difference between me and the new green deal is they say, automatically, by 2030 we're going to be carbon free. Not possible," Biden said.
The word from the Licensee is that if the Lithium-ion Battery fits some manufacturing process, which they vaguely acknowledge as "depending on battery materials manufacturers' preferences and requirements," then they can recover 99.9% of the metals with "zero waste." It should go without saying ANY battery technology that hopes to surplant the Lead-acid technology need to be at least as economically viable. Materials recovery lends greatly to that, as currently Lead-acid batteries enjoy a "nearly 100 percent recycling rate."
These highlight from a press release from DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory states of the licensed recovery process
Momentum Technologies Inc., a Dallas, Texas-based materials science company that is focused on extracting critical metals from electronic waste, has licensed an Oak Ridge National Laboratory process for recovering cobalt and other metals from spent lithium-ion batteries.
Less than 5% of spent lithium-ion batteries in the United States are recycled. Several critical elements are used in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese. Using the Membrane Solvent Extraction process, or MSX, developed by ORNL scientists as part of the Department of Energy's Critical Materials Institute, or CMI, these elements can be recovered in a highly pure form that can be reformulated into battery composition for new devices.
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MSX processing uses a limited amount of energy, labor and chemical solvents and can be applied to a variety of critical material recovery efforts.
"This technology recovers 99.9% pure lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese oxides or sulfates depending on battery materials manufacturers' preferences and requirements," (Preston Bryant, founder and CEO of Momentum) said. "MSX is a closed-loop process; it is cheap, modular, energy efficient and produces nearly zero waste."
The COVID-19 pandemic showed the world the dire consequences of ignoring science and its predictions of global crises. But the pandemic was just a rehearsal for the climate disasters humanity will face – unless we act now. In his new book, Rewiring America, Saul Griffith, PhD argues that we can still address the threat of climate change, but only if we respond with a massive war-time mobilization effort to transform the fossil fuel economy into a fully electrified one, run on wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. Based on the vast data about energy flows in the U.S. economy that his company, Otherlab, has mapped, Griffith details how to not only save us from climate disaster, but to help us enjoy a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future. Griffith–physicist, inventor, engineer, and a father who wants to preserve the planet for his children–offers not only a plan for a cleaner, healthier future, but how to pay for it. It’s a plan that will work. Now.
Synopsis
In this book we approach the climate emergency from a new angle. We look for solutions, not barriers. We outline pathways to success.
We don't begin with the question of what is politically possible, but ask what is technically necessary to make a climate solution that is also the best economic pathway for the country. We need mobilization of technology, industry, labor, regulatory reform, and critically, finance.
This pathway is technology-agnostic; we have used the test “is it ready and does it work?'' to understand the ideal way forward. This pathway is best summarized as electrify everything.
We lean on data and an unprecedented analysis of the U.S. energy economy that allows us to look at the consequences of electrifying everything. Will our lives change? The surprising answer is not a lot. Those things that will change, though, are for the better: cleaner air, cleaner water, better health, cheaper energy, and a more robust grid. We can have pretty much all of the complexity and variety of the American dream, with the same-sized homes and vehicles – and we'll need less than half the energy we currently use. This is a success story that casts aside trying to “efficiency” or “deprive” our way to zero emissions.
How do we ensure the lowest cost of energy while electrifying everything? First, we have to rewrite the federal, state, and local rules and regulations that were created for the fossil-fueled world and are preventing the U.S. from having the cheapest electricity ever. Then, we have to finance our transition to a zero-carbon energy system with a low-interest ``climate loan.'' We have precedents and mechanisms for doing this; the U.S. pioneered public-private financing in the past that can help us get the job done today.
The consequence of getting the technology, financing, and regulations right is that we can save every family in the U.S. thousands of dollars a year.
We will need to triple the amount of electricity delivered in the U.S., and we'll discover that the moonshot engineering project we need is a new grid with new operating rules, more like the Internet. We must have “grid neutrality.”
The industrial mobilization required will mean an effort similar to WWII's Arsenal of Democracy in size, speed, and scope.
For a world looking to bounce back from a pandemic, there is no other project that would create this many jobs. An analysis shows that there are tens of millions of good paying jobs that will be created in every zip code, suburb, and rural town in the country.
It is by no means easy, but it is still possible. But not for long. Billionaires may dream of escaping to Mars, but the rest of us... we have to stay and fight.
An AZOMaterials article highlights a paper in Nature Communications. It is worth noting that the researchers label this storage a "hybrid supercapacitor." Here are a few paragraphs from that article
The hybrid supercapacitor can be charged and discharged as fast as a capacitor and can store nearly as much energy as standard batteries. In contrast to the latter, it can be charged and discharged a lot faster and for more number of times: while the service life of a lithium-ion battery is a few thousand cycles, a supercapacitor can handle about one million charging cycles.
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A specifically sustainable, but hitherto largely uninvestigated variant of such a hybrid supercapacitor comprises carbon and aqueous sodium iodide (NaI) electrolyte, with a negative supercapacitor electrode and a positive battery electrode.
Business World Indiaoutline some EV startups that the Indian government is throwing money into.
Aqueouss: Aqueouss came into existence in the year 2016. They have the reputation of being one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of a high-quality range of Li-ion batteries and LifeP04 batteries. ..
Grinntech: Founded in 2018, Grinntech works on Lithium-ion cells to pack technology and supplies Li-ion battery packs for multiple EV applications. ..
ION Energy: Founded in 2016 by a team of Ph.D. Engineers from Stanford, Penn State and IIT with decades of experience in advanced electronics and battery systems. ..
Lohum Cleantech Private Limited: Established in the year 2018, “Lohum Cleantech Private Limited” is a leading manufacturer of a wide range of Lithium-ion batteries, power banks, Lithium-Ion cells and Lithium-Ion battery charger. ..
With charging cycles numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the SuperBattery is a promising prospect for addressing the three foremost issues related to electric vehicle use: long charging times, battery deterioration and concerns about vehicle range.
According to reports, the SuperBattery is a hybrid system that merges standard lithium-ion cells and Skeleton Technology's proprietary ultracapacitor cells. The main factor that differentiates the SuperBattery from similar systems is the Curved Graphene material that is used to make the ultracapacitors. As with other ultracapacitors, the SuperBattery does not have enough energy density to be a total replacement for lithium-ion batteries.
Elon Musk has confirmed Tesla's new structural battery design, and 4680 cells are first going to Model Y, which will be produced at Gigafactory Berlin next year.
We already had a good idea it was happening since Musk teased that Tesla will introduce a "core structural design change" with Model Y produced in Germany, but it’s not confirmed.
The CEO confirmed on Twitter that the new structural battery pack technology will be first implemented in Berlin:
Berlin will use 4680 cell with structural battery pack & front & rear single piece castings. Also, a new paint system.
Lot of new technology will happen in Berlin, which means significant production risk. Fremont & Shanghai will transition in ~2 years when new tech is proven.
The focus of the system is dubbed a hybrid battery energy storage system (BESS). The system, which combines high-output lithium-ion batteries with high-capacity lead-acid storage batteries, is charged with a wind farm. The Combined capacity is 6 MW.
Highlights and a link to the press release are below.
TOKYO, Oct 2, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and its project partners Hitachi, Ltd. (Hitachi), Showa Denko Materials Co., Ltd. (Showa Denko Materials) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) announced today that the Smart Grid Demonstration Project in Poland, aimed at the expansion of renewable energy with a hybrid battery energy storage system (BESS) located at the Bystra Wind Farm in northern Poland reached monitoring phase in June and full-scale demonstrative operation phase on Sept. 25.
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This hybrid BESS is Poland's largest-scale battery energy storage system, which combines high-output lithium-ion batteries with high-capacity lead-acid storage batteries, a combination to obtain high performance at low cost. The test operation will validate and prove the effectiveness of the functionality for alleviating short-term fluctuations in wind power generation and for providing necessary reserve power for adjusting demand-supply balance (load balancing).
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The hybrid BESS introduced in this demonstration project consists of high-output lithium-ion batteries (1 MW-0.47 MWh) and high-capacity lead-acid storage batteries (5 MW-26.9 MWh) manufactured by Showa Denko Materials, the BESS-DCS (Distribution Control System) manufactured by Hitachi, which allows hybrid control of these two types of storage batteries, and the PCS (Power Conversion System), a 6 MW power converter manufactured by Hitachi ABB Power Grids Ltd. The system is the largest-scale storage battery system in Poland, offering a high level of performance at low cost.
CNN recently published Airbus' vision on future aircraft. Visually it is appealing.
This report adds to the previous reports. It is long and will let you read it and only quote this one paragraph, and several from another story from two weeks ago.
The three ZEROe concepts program include a 120-200 passenger turbofan with a range of 2,000+ nautical miles, capable of operating transcontinentally and powered by a modified gas-turbine engine running on hydrogen. The liquid hydrogen will be stored and distributed via tanks located behind the rear pressure bulkhead.
Airbus is backing away from battery power in favour of pursuing hydrogen as a primary propulsion source for future aircraft development, over concerns that battery technology will not advance quickly enough to adapt to large airliners.
The airframer has unveiled three conceptual designs – two based on conventional turboprop and twinjet airframes, plus a third featuring a blended-wing fuselage design – as it commits to exploring a hydrogen-based zero-emission aircraft for potential service entry in 2035.
Speaking during a 21 September briefing, Airbus head of zero-emission aircraft Glen Llewellyn said that the airframer has seen a "decoupling" between the speed of battery technology progression and this 15-year timeframe.
Advanced brine processing to enable U.S. lithium independence
This research will create a more cost-effective process to produce lithium hydroxide ..
Industry partner: Albemarle/Ameridia (North Carolina). Lead researcher: Jeff Spangenberger.
Hydrothermal production of single crystal Ni-rich cathodes with extreme rate capability
The hydrothermal process is a rapid potentially high-volume, tunable manufacturing method ..
Industry partner: Hunt Energy Enterprises (Texas). Lead researcher: YoungHo Shin.
Continuous flow reactor synthesis of advanced electrolyte components for lithium-ion batteries
Argonne has developed a safer, more economical procedure for synthesizing trifluoropropylene carbonate (TFPC), ..
Industry partner: Koura Global (Massachusetts). Lead researcher: Kris Pupek.
Continuous high yield production of defect-free, ultrathin sulfide glass electrolytes for next generation solid-state lithium metal batteries
The goal of this project is to identify the source of defects in sulfide glasses and ..
Industry partner: PolyPlus (California). Lead researcher: Tim Fister.
Scale-up production of graphene monoxide for next-generation lithium-ion battery anodes.
Graphene monoxide (GmO), a performance-enhancing component for lithium-ion battery anodes with the potential to improve safety, low-temperature operation and ..
Industry partner: SafeLi LLC (Wisconsin). Lead researcher: Trevor Dzwiniel.
Scaling halide-type solid electrolytes for solid-state batteries
This project aims to develop, integrate and validate innovative processing technologies for a new class of lithium-ion conductors with ..
Industry partner: Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics (Pennsylvania). Lead researcher:Zonghai Chen.
Commercially viable process for surface conditioning of high-nickel low-cobalt cathodes (led by Brookhaven National Laboratory)
This project will take innovations in battery materials processing and characterization developed and implemented by Argonne and Brookhaven and apply them to battery electrode manufacturing processes ..
Industry partner: C4V & Primet (New York). Lead researcher:Zonghai Chen.
