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In This Issue
The Inagural Foresight Science & Technology
Energy Newsletter
A
Note From Foresight
Powering
Tomorrow's Cars
“Treasury, Energy Surpass $1 Billion in Awards for Clean
Energy Projects.”
“DOE Funds Advanced Water Power, Announces H-Prize.”
“Business Leaders Urge Solar Power Support.”
“Recession Slows U.S. Wind Power Growth Rate.”
“DOE Selects Biofuels Projects to Receive up to $21
Million in Funding.”
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A Note From Foresight Science & Technology
Welcome to Foresight Science & Technology’s
inaugural Energy Newsletter. You are receiving this newsletter because you
have registered for the Department of Energy SBIR Program’s Technology
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Matt
Wool
VP,
Software & Internet Products
Foresight
Science & Technology
Powering Tomorrow’s Cars
The Transportation Energy Storage Landscape
The transportation energy storage industry is a dynamic
one, with a range of technologies, including lithium-ion,
nickel-metal-hydride, and lead-acid, competing to power the next generation
of fuel-efficient automobiles.
Currently, lithium-ion appears to be the near-term battery
technology of choice for most manufacturers and automakers, who have been
greatly helped by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The Act, more
commonly known as the federal stimulus package, offered awards totaling $526.4 million to companies
such as Dow Kokam, Compact Power, EnerDel, and Saft America for
the production of lithium-ion batteries, cells, modules, and battery packs.
This technology has potential to be used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and electric vehicles (EVs), and possesses
many characteristics that make it ideal for
automotive applications, including high energy content, light weight,
cold-weather performance, abuse tolerance, and the ability to recharge at
high rates. Research in lithium-ion chemistry is currently focused on
bringing down cost, while safety is also an issue.
While lithium-ion looks like the battery of the future,
nickel-metal-hydride (NiMh) currently dominates the HEV battery market. All
hybrids currently in production use NiMh , with Toyota recently opting to stick with this
chemistry after three years of testing lithium-ion batteries in its Prius
HEVs. The major companies producing this technology are Panasonic EV Energy
Co., SANYO Electric Co. Ltd, and Johnson Controls Inc. NiMH is often
described as a proven, affordable, and safe technology, though it suffers
from a low energy capacity and has thus far been limited to
HEV applications.
Lead-acid is the most conventional battery technology
discussed here, commonly used for starting the vehicle and other ancillary functions. However, advanced forms of
this chemistry, such as Firefly Energy’s 3D2 lead-acid foam technology,
offer performance approximating that of lithium-ion and NiMh batteries,
potentially making them suitable for implementation in HEVs. In addition, the
UltraBattery system, developed by
Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO) and
manufactured in the U.S. by East Penn Manufacturing, combines a lead-acid
battery with an asymmetric ultracapacitor to create an HEV battery with a
life cycle four times that of a conventional battery system and with 50% more
power.
While batteries may be the most popular energy storage
technology in the automotive market, ultracapacitors represent another
potential solution for HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs. Ultracapacitors store energy in
an electric field between a pair of closely spaced capacitors, and they charge
and release energy at a faster rate than batteries, though they store 25 times
less energy per pound than lithium-ion
and have a relatively small capacitance. While still in a
testing stage, ultracapacitors could seriously compete in the transportation
energy storage market, with several participants shifting their attention to
this technology. Major players in this area include Matsushita Electric
Industrial Company and Maxwell Technologies.
Powerful global forces such as climate change and
volatile gas prices have the potential to encourage the adoption of electric
vehicles and subsequently drive innovation in the transportation energy
storage market for years to come. Lithium-ion looks like the battery of
choice for the next-generation of fuel-efficient automobiles; however, it
faces competition from proven NiMh technology, and could be challenged in the
future by emerging technologies such as advanced lead-acid and
ultracapacitors, as well as other chemistries such as lithium-air and hydrino
hydride. No one can predict which, if any, of these technologies will become
the preferred energy storage solution for hybrid/electric vehicles. One thing
is for sure, though: these are historic times for the energy storage industry.
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