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※twitterでUCニュース配信はじめました。ユーザー名 a77a フォロー自由です

2008/08/29

環境技術、日・EUが初の政府間協議 まず太陽光発電(蓄電も)


出典:http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/kaigai/20080829AT2M2700F28082008.html
 【ブリュッセル=下田敏】温暖化対策で国際的な技術協力を進めるため、日本と欧州連合(EU)が初めての政府間協議を開催することが明らかになった。まず9月に太陽光発電に関する専門家会合を開き、蓄電技術や二酸化炭素(CO2)の地中貯留でも技術協力を探る。主要国首脳会議(洞爺湖サミット)の合意をふまえ、2050年に温暖化ガス排出を半減させるには環境技術が進んだ日本とEUが連携する必要があると判断。共同研究の枠組みなどを定めた包括協定を09年中に結ぶ方針だ。 欧州委員会は29日にも日・EUの政府間協議の設定を発表する。日本の新エネルギー・産業技術総合開発機構(NEDO)と欧州委が主体となってまずスペイン・バレンシアで専門家会合を開き、09年春までに具体的な共同研究の内容などを詰める。


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Batteries - are their days numbered?


http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Hardware/4951.html
Hans vd Groenendaal, EIT 27 August, 2008 02:00:00
Are supercapacitors the answer?

Supercapacitors exhibit vastly greater capacitance than conventional capacitors. In developing them there was no discovery of new physics laws. In fact, the theory behind them goes back to Helmholtz. Like all capacitors, ultracaps are still about storing power in the form of an electrical charge between two "plates."

The capacitance is directly related to the area of the plates and the permittivity of the material between the plates, and it’s inversely related to the distance between them. After that, the story gets interesting writes Don Tuite on the Electronic Design website.

"Before we had ultracaps to provide astonishingly high values of capacitance, we had electrolytics. Ultracapacitors aren’t electrolytics, but understanding the older tech is helpful in understanding the new tech. Electrolytics are so named because one (or both) of the "plates" is a nonmetallic electrolyte on top of a metallic backing. During manufacturing, a voltage drives a current from the anode metal through a conductive bath to the cathode. That produces an insulating metal oxide on the surface of the anode - the dielectric.

"One of the phenomena that happens inside electrolytics is the charge accumulation and charge separation that occurs at the interface when any electrode is immersed in an electrolyte solution. An accumulation of oppositely charged ions in the solution compensates for excess charge on the electrode surface. The interface is called the Helmholtz layer.

"To understand ultracaps, stop thinking about flat plates (or flat plates rolled up into tubes) with a dielectric between them, much like peanut butter in a sandwich. In an ultracap, charging/discharging takes place on the interfaces between porous carbon materials or porous oxides of certain metals in an electrolyte.

"The Helmholtz layers give rise to an effect called double layer capacitance. When a DC voltage is applied across the porous carbon electrodes in an ultracap, compensating accumulations of cations or anions develop in the solution around the charged electrodes. If no electron transfer can occur across the interface, a "double layer" of separated charges (electrons or electron deficiency at the metal side and cations or anions at the solution side of the interface boundary) exists across the interface

"The Helmholtz-region capacitance depends on the area of those porous carbon electrodes and the size of the ions in solution. The capacitance per square centimetre of electrode double layers is on the order of 10 000 times larger than those of ordinary dielectric capacitors. That’s because the separation of charges in double layers is about 0,3 to 0,5 nm, instead of 10 to 100 nm in electrolytics and 1000 nm in mica or polystyrene caps.

"There’s a catch to this "double-layer" characteristic, though. The double-layer configuration reduces the potential capacitance of a practical device because the ultracap consists of a pair of electrodes, each with half the total mass. In addition, the ultracapacitor is effectively two capacitors in series. Taken together, that means the ultracap achieves one quarter of the theoretical capacitance based on electrode area and ion size.

"Batteries and ultracapacitors are often lumped together, obscuring a number of important differences:

Batteries store watt-hours of energy. Capacitors store watts of power.
Batteries depend on chemical reactions with long time constants. They take a relatively long time to charge, and they’re fussy about the profile of the current that charges them. Conversely, capacitors are charged by applying a voltage across their terminals, and their charge rate depends mostly on external resistance.
Batteries deliver power in the form of a more or less constant voltage over long time periods. Capacitors discharge rapidly, and their output voltage decays exponentially.
Batteries are good for only a limited number of charge/discharge cycles, and the number of cycles depends on how deeply they are discharged. Capacitors, especially ultra capacitors, can be charged and discharged repeatedly for tens of millions of cycles.
Batteries are big and heavy. Capacitors are small and light.
Applications

"The most basic applications for ultracaps lie in stabilising DC bus voltages. Ultracaps have become widely used in automobiles to protect the various engine control units and other microcontrollers from voltage dips associated with the application of sudden transient loads

"Elsewhere in transportation, the ultracap’s ability to absorb and discharge energy rapidly makes it far better than batteries for regenerative braking schemes. Most of these applications have been in public transportation. The Bombardier rail cars in the light-rail system in Mannheim, Germany, use packs of 600 2600-F ultra capacitors for braking energy recapture. The stored energy is used to boost acceleration and to bridge non-powered sections and intersections. Operation there represents between 100 000 and 300 000 load cycles/year. This is an all-electric rail system, so recaptured braking energy reduces demand on the grid. In that regard, the prototype has demonstrated a potential for energy savings of up to 30%.

"In hybrid transportation applications in the U.S., ISE Corporation’s buses now run in Elk Grove and Long Beach. The buses accelerate more quickly than standard buses. At gross vehicle weight, the bus can accelerate from zero to 31 mph in 17 seconds and can reach a maximum speed of 100 km per hour. Preliminary data indicates better average fuel efficiency compared to competitive battery-based hybrid electric drive systems."

Don Tuite wrote his first technical article (on circular antenna polarisation) in 1973 for Microwaves magazine, which is a sister publication of Electronic Design. He went on to author four books for electronics hobbyists. Since 1985, he has concentrated on semiconductors, working on his own as well as within chip manufacturers, for public relations agencies, and as a trade-press editor. He holds an MS degree in communications and technical writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) and a BS in electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Will the supercapacitor replace batteries in the future? Get the lowdown on supercapacitors: http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/17465/17465.html

EngineerIT

Battery discussion



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2008/08/28

米M2E Power社,歩いて充電できる携帯機器向け充電器を開発


開発中の外付け充電器

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20080827/157007/?ref=ML
2008/08/27 15:46
再生可能エネルギーを利用した機器開発などを手掛ける米M2E Power, Inc.は,歩行などの運動で携帯機器を充電できる外付け充電器の開発を進めていると発表した。同充電器は,人が歩いたときなどの運動エネルギーを電気エネルギーに変換し,本体内に貯めることで携帯機器を充電する。電気エネルギーへの変換には,磁気誘導を用いているという。M2E Power社によれば,累積6時間の運動で,携帯電話機の通話30~60分に相当する電力量を蓄積することが可能。運動エネルギーを電力に変換する従来の技術に比べると,発電量を300~700%増やせるとする。同社は発電する部位のほか,蓄電用の電池も開発中である。同社は現在,この充電器を軍や消費者用の携帯機器向けに開発している。同社の技術開発は,米エネルギー省(Department of Energy)が資金提供し,Idaho National Labs(INL)で行われた研究が端緒となった。INLは,兵士が電池をいくつも持ち歩かずに済む方法を探していたという。加納 征子=日経エレクトロニクス


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Citroen社の新型「C5」、電動のパーキングブレーキやテールゲートを採用


図1◎電動パーキングブレーキの手動スイッチはセンターコンソールにある(赤く光っているスイッチ)

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20080827/157033/
2008/08/27 19:11
10月1日から販売するCitroen社「C5」の国内導入モデルは、電動パーキングブレーキやヒルスタートアシスト機構、電動テールゲートなど利便性の高い装備を採用した。

 C5はアッパーミドルセグメントでのシェア獲得を目指して装備の充実により利便性も高めた。電動パーキングブレーキはすでにドイツVolkswagen社の「パサート」や同Audi社の「A4」などで採用されているがC5もほぼ同様の機能を持つ。エンジンを止めると自動的にパーキングブレーキが作動し、エンジンを始動してアクセルを踏むとブレーキを解除する。坂道における発進時に後ろに下がらないためのヒルスタートアシスト機能も装備する。勾配が3%を超える場合、ブレーキペダルから足を離した後も2秒間停止状態を保つ。

 ワゴンモデルとなる「ツアラー」では、電動テールゲートと荷室からリアの車高を調整できる機能を標準装備した。電動テールゲートは障害物に当たったときに自動的に停止する機能付きで、テールゲートの上がる高さを任意に設定できるほか、キーレスエントリーでも操作可能。テールゲートを閉める際は、ゲートの右上にあるボタンを押せばよい。荷室からリアの車高を調整できる機能は、荷室側面右側にあるスイッチによって操作する。最大120mm車高を上下でき、荷物の積み降ろしが容易となる。

 このほか快適装備では3.0Lモデルの運転席にシートヒータとリラクゼーション機能を設けた。リラクゼーション機能はトヨタ自動車の「レクサスLS」の後席に設定されているが、運転席に設けたのは珍しい。背もたれの一部を前後に動かすことなどで運転時の疲労を抑える。



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2008/08/27

Nanotechnology: Enabling Alternative Energy Programs to be Efficient and Cost Effective


http://pepei.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=337025&p=6

By David Walker and Mark Daugherty, Ph.D.

Worldwide, the energy industry faces constant challenges. The price of oil has been above $140 dollars a barrel and even many diehard supporters of the industry concede that there is only so much oil left. In addition, the price of coal has nearly doubled in just the last year alone. This is not unduly surprising given that a significant fraction, sometimes more than half of the cost of coal is for transportation on diesel powered trains.

To address these issues, there has been a huge surge of interest related to sustainable energy solutions. Despite the promising potential of many renewable fuels, there are three issues that generally arise: cost, cost and (you guessed it) cost. The newness of many alternative energy technologies prohibits such technologies from reducing costs to the same extent many fossil fuel technologies traditionally have. In addition, fossil fuels follow the razor blade marketing pattern; that is, the upfront equipment is relatively inexpensive, but once they buy, the customers are locked in to buying fuel for the next 30 years.

Most renewable energy systems have to be paid for upfront – then, they will produce power for the next 20 to 40 years without any fuel expenditures. Even if the overall costs are significantly lower for a renewable energy project, you still have to deal with the upfront cash flow problem.

Enter nanotechnology. Not surprisingly, the performance of renewable energy systems such as solar cells, biomass chemical reactions, wind turbine gear trains, capacitors and batteries critically depends on the performance of their component materials. Recent research suggests that we are truly developing the ability to control material architectures, including structure, pore size and material composition, down to nanoscale dimensions. This ability opens possibilities for the development of new material architectures that can simultaneously optimize critical performance parameters in ways that were previously unobtainable.

Short Term
Wind and solar renewable energy technologies are intermittent–their output is dependent on the weather. Their value can be significantly enhanced if cost effective ways of storing renewable energy can be developed.

Ultracapacitors offer one possible route for the storage of renewable energy where nanotechnology is already making a difference. Traditional ultracapacitor electrodes are made using high surface area carbon materials. High surface area is necessary to achieve high values of capacitance, but in the process of "roughing up" the carbon service, its electrical conductivity drops. This makes it necessary to often use a metal foil as a backing material for that carbon electrode. In addition, the high surface area carbon is an expensive material to produce.

Nanotechnology opens up a new possibility. By using chemical techniques, we can inexpensively prepare solutions of nanoparticles with very well-defined particle sizes and particle size distributions. These nanoparticles can then be applied to carbon electrode materials for use in ultracapacitors, eliminating the need to further modify the carbon itself. This means the unit will cost less and will have higher electrical conductivity.

Another significant use of nanotechnology is in battery technology. Again, nanocomposite materials greatly increase the surface area at which chemical reactions occur in a battery, thus enabling a large increase in the battery's power output while potentially reducing its size. The idea of creating nanostructures to increase the surface area of a battery electrode is also compelling.

Long Term
Looking years down the road, nanotechnology has the potential to be a significant force in the development of a truly sustainable society, enabling power to be harnessed from renewable sources and stored until it is needed. The advances in nanotechnology anticipated in the coming years will allow developers to tailor the performance of a wide range of materials for renewable energy systems, thus providing the technical backbone for the implementation of a wide range of environmentally friendly energy solutions.

As we face the daunting task of implementing viable, widespread renewable energy sources and tackling the myriad of challenges that come with developing an efficient, reliable sustainable energy program, technological advancements will play a critical role. Aided by nanotechnology, the overall weight, size, cost and efficiency of new power sources like solar, wind, biomass and other renewables will be optimized to allow them to function effectively. This will also ensure that the alternative energy systems already being developed remain affordable so they can be broadly implemented.


David Walker and Dr. Mark Daugherty are executives at Enable IPC Corporation. Though not limited to nanotechnology or the energy industries, Enable IPC's growing portfolio currently includes the exclusive rights to two notable energy technologies. More information on Enable IPC can be found at www.enableipc.com.









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Grid Parity, Nanotechnology and Electrical Energy Storage


http://pepei.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=337775&p=6&dcmp=PENews
By Dr. Mark Daugherty, CTO of Enable IPC
We have all grown comfortable with the astounding rate of progress occurring in the semiconductor industry. We know Moore's Law, which predicts a doubling of performance every two years, is still going strong. Sometimes we forget photovoltaic panels are also semiconductor devices. While there are obvious differences between integrated circuits and photovoltaic panels, there is at least one similarity: an enormous amount of potential in the photovoltaic industry to reduce costs by applying technology to get more performance from less material.

Grid parity is a term used to define the point at which photovoltaic electricity is the same price as grid electricity. It is also the point at which demand for photovoltaic electricity goes ballistic. If you had to guess when do you think this would happen? 2030? 2050? It might surprise you to learn that President George W. Bush has set 2015 as a goal for grid parity in the United States.

General Electric's Chief Engineer Jim Lyons is also on board. He recently told a room of conference attendees in London that he expects price parity in sunny parts of the United States to occur by around 2015. Several photovoltaic manufacturing companies are targeting grid parity even sooner. Last November, Google announced it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a project called "Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal."

Photovoltaic electricity costs are dropping by around five percent a year, and non-subsidized grid parity is already a reality in parts of California. It has also been reached in Hawaii and other islands that otherwise use diesel fuel to produce electricity. Photovoltaic panel production has been doubling every two years, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002. According to preliminary figures, by the end of 2007, cumulative global production was 12,400 MW. Roughly 90 percent of this generating capacity goes into grid-tied electrical systems.

How will the grid need to evolve to accommodate all of this solar electricity? Given the intermittent nature of solar power it is clear that energy storage will become a critical enabling technology at some point in the not-too-distant future. While hydropower provides exceptional energy storage capabilities, there isn't much else out there.

One possible alternative is ultracapacitors. While ultracapacitors are related to batteries, they use a different energy storage mechanism. Batteries move charged chemical species (ions) from one electrode to another through an electrolyte. The ions interact chemically with the electrodes to store energy. Batteries store chemical energy and the reactions occurring at the electrodes are never completely reversible. Ultracapacitors store electrical charge physically, without using chemical reactions. Because the charge is stored physically, the process is highly reversible and millions of discharge-charge cycles are possible.

Current ultracapacitor technology has lower energy storage per unit volume than batteries. On the positive side, ultracapacitor power densities are significantly higher than batteries, and ultracapacitor lifetimes are measured in millions of charge/discharge cycles rather than the thousands of cycles rechargeable batteries are capable of. Ultracapacitors also require virtually no maintenance and work well over broad temperature ranges.

Because of their long lifetimes and high power levels, ultracapacitors are expected to first enter the large-scale power markets to provide grid stability. While ultracapacitors are currently far too expensive to consider for bulk grid scale electrical energy storage, that may not always be the case.

Ultracapacitors share an important property with semiconductors and photovoltaic panels. They are amenable to the application of technology, nanotech in this case, to dramatically improve performance without significantly increasing material costs. To put it another way, nanotechnology might enable ultracapacitors to jump on the Moore's Law bandwagon and follow integrated circuits and photovoltaic panels down rapidly decreasing cost curves until they become commercially viable, even at grid scale. If that happens, a completely renewable electrical grid may not be too hard to imagine.

Dr. Mark Daugherty is the CTO of Enable IPC. Though not limited to nanotechnology or the energy industries, Enable IPC's growing portfolio currently includes the exclusive rights to two break-through energy technologies. More information on Enable IPC can be found at www.enableipc.com.



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Why electricity is the energy carrier of choice/The (renewable) electron economy, part 6


Our already substantial 120-year investment in an electric infrastructure in industrial countries, makes the transition to a electricity based energy economy less expensive.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/8/21/124135/768
Posted by Michael Hoexter (Guest Contributor) at 8:08 AM on 22 Aug 2008
There are sound physical reasons why the three main contenders for the energy supply for transport turn out to be the three electron economies: renewables, nuclear, and coal CCS. We have determined there that electric drive vehicles either attached to the grid or powered by some version of a battery can do most of the on-land transport tasks now dependent on oil supplies. There are other reasons why electricity is valuable for driving stationary machinery as well, which we will go into later.

Why then is electricity preferable to biofuels, hydrogen, and coal-to-liquids? In addition to zero emissions at end use, electricity has benefits in efficiency and availability in almost all stages of its production, transmission, and consumption. Electric generators can be built to use a wide variety of types of energy (heat, light, mechanical energy) to create the highly usable and flexible energy carrier, electric current. In other words, electricity is the ultimate in "flex-fuel." All renewable energies (wind, sun, geothermal heat, wave, tidal, biomass, natural chemical, and thermal gradients ) can be converted into electricity with existing technologies. In addition, while we must shift the way we generate electricity in most instances, this is not a full-scale rebuilding of our energy system, but a modification of existing infrastructure -- so in the end, less expensive.


Existing electrical generation technologies convert a fairly large amount of the primary energy they receive into electric energy. Current solar panels, for instance, can convert anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent of the energy of the sun into electricity, depending on the technology; by contrast, plants convert at most 1 percent of the energy of the sun into biomass, an energy harvest that is further reduced if that biomass is converted into a liquid biofuel rather than burned in a biomass electric generation facility.


Electric motors are so compact that this electric sports car, has a 120kw (163 horsepower) electric motor in each of the hubs of its wheels, each of which weighs 55 lbs; an equivalent internal combustion engine would be several times larger and heavier as well as much more inefficient.

Additionally, electric motors, because of the physics of the electromagnetic force, are incredibly efficient at generating torque, the useful product of engines and motors. An electric motor of medium or larger size (90-95 percent efficient) requires somewhere between one-third and one-quarter the amount of energy to do the same work as an internal combustion engine (20-30 percent efficient). They therefore generate 3 to 4 times more torque per unit energy input than all but the largest and most efficient house-sized diesel ship engines (50 percent efficient).

Electricity can also be used for a huge variety of functions for the end user: generating mechanical movement, heat, light, and sound. So electricity is both flex-fuel and flex-use. It is no wonder that, even with no consideration of current energy and climate concerns, more and more devices have been designed with more electronic components to increase their functionality, including petroleum powered automobiles (electronic fuel injection, stability control, drive by wire, etc.).

Electricity's weakness has been that electrical energy storage is bulky and heavy in comparison to the portable liquid fuels to which it is often compared. Batteries and ultracapacitors are still relatively large and expensive compared to a liquid fuel tank and the hydrocarbons that are pumped into it. As the drawbacks of fossil fuels are starting to be more widely recognized, the positive attributes of alternatives are once again being recognized. Also, substantial investment is once again flowing into resolving this one final hitch in electricity's otherwise near-ideal attributes -- and the technological development curve promises rapid advances.

In the distant future, we may have other energy carriers with more favorable characteristics, but for the foreseeable future it makes the most sense to build on the advantages of electricity.

Next up: the best way to generate electricity.



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Axion Power: Common Sense Solution for Alt. Energy Storage



http://seekingalpha.com/article/92463-axion-power-common-sense-solution-for-alt-energy-storage
posted on: August 25, 2008
Alternative energy investing is a strange beast. Investor attention ebbs and flows with amazing speed as folks frantically scurry from one "holy grail" to the next in the hope that they'll be the first to identify the next best solution to the looming fossil fuel crisis. I'm convinced that energy storage will be the next big alternative energy investment sector.

But if I've learned anything over the last five years, it's that there is no holy grail in energy storage because there is such an incredible diversity of current and developing needs. In simple terms, investing in energy storage technology is like investing in shoes. You need to find something that fits well, is priced right and is built for the work that you plan to do. If you don't shop smart, the bad choices can be crippling.

I'm a vocal and unrepentant critic of lithium-ion technology because it's too powerful and too expensive for most large-scale applications. Li-ion is the only sensible choice for portable electronic devices and power tools. A123 System's case for an upgraded PHEV that can travel 40 miles in electric mode before switching to gasoline also seems to have significant merit. But we pass out of the realm of common sense and into a twilight zone of science fiction when battery cost exceeds 20% to 30% of total system cost.

Today, instead of focusing on economics that simply can't work, I'll try to explain why I believe Axion Power International's (AXPW.OB) PbC[TM] batteries may well be the sensible shoes for the emerging $100 billion energy storage market.

PbC batteries are nothing like the short-lived, shallow-cycle automotive batteries we all grew up with. They are a cross between a sealed lead-acid battery and a supercapacitor; a hybrid that combines the performance advantages of both at an affordable price. By using carbon electrode assemblies from a supercapacitor to replace the negative electrodes in a lead-acid battery, Axion has found a way to eliminate electrolyte loss and sulfation, the two principal causes of lead acid battery failure, and manufacture a low-cost large-format energy storage device that can handle over 1,600 cycles at a 90% depth of discharge with no significant loss of performance. In short, Axion's patented PbC battery is a disruptive innovation that combines two complementary technologies in a workhorse energy storage device that the average guy on the street can afford to buy.

Without getting into the detail provided by Axion's SEC reports and website (www.axionpower.com), the key benefits of its PbC technology include:

Higher specific power, longer cycle-lives and faster recharge rates;
Cheap and abundant materials that can be easily recycled into new batteries;
Designs that use the same cases, covers, positive electrodes, separators and electrolytes as regular lead-acid batteries;
Manufacturing methods that work in legacy battery plants without installing expensive new equipment or hiring highly trained technical staff; and
Robust chemistry with an impeccable safety record.
The only shortcomings are that PbC batteries require more space than normal lead-acid batteries and have steeper voltage decline curves. I'm the first to admit that volume is a big issue for something that I plan to carry in my pocket. But it's far less critical in the trunk of a car, the basement of a house or a utility substation where battery volume is just another a design constraint. And while voltage control electronics aren't free, they're not rocket science either.

Axion's current PbC battery production is less than a 100 units per day but new electrode fabrication equipment should boost that figure to 1,000 units per day in the first quarter of 2009. From there things get really interesting.

The die is cast. Estimated utility demand for storage solutions to enable peak shaving, improve power quality and defer infrastructure upgrades is $50 to $60 billion. As wind and solar power decline in price and become more common there will be no grid stability without local energy storage to provide reserve power for the last mile when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. The dominant technology will be the one that does the work for the lowest total cost of ownership, a pair of comfortable sensible shoes.

After leaving quarts of my own blood on the floor, I understand the difference between the leading edge and the bleeding edge of technology. A number of new and emerging technologies are likely to play important roles in the future of energy storage and given the mind-boggling array of possibilities, I couldn't begin to venture a guess about what the dominant technology will be 50 years from now. But in August 2008, I can't identify a single contender that offers the flexibility, dependability and affordability of Axion's PbC batteries. Since I'm 15 years from retirement and less than 45 years from an urn, I'll sacrifice some long-term potential for several years of rapid, predictable growth.

I'm a former Axion director and a big stockholder, so I clearly have a dog in this fight. But I'm also a long-term investor who doesn't have an agenda beyond providing useful information about a low-profile public company with a disruptive technology, established manufacturing facilities, fully-financed short-term growth plans and a current stock price that inspires insider buying. As a practicing attorney, I've had almost 30 years experience working with innovative technologies and the companies that try to develop them. Axion has all of the virtues I look for and none of the weaknesses I've seen in other companies.

Nobody should buy or sell a stock, any stock, based on an opinion blog. But think about the market. Think about the competing technologies. Think about the costs and benefits of each alternative. And while you're at it, think about Axion. Then do you own diligence and make a well-reasoned decision based on business reality instead of PR hype.

We all know the truth of the saying that "Everything Old is New Again." Do you really believe that the cheap, proven and reliable lead-acid battery will be any different?

Disclosure: Author holds a long position in AXPW.OB and is a former director of that company.


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空港でPCを無料充電,Samsungが電子機器向け充電ステーションを設置


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20080826/156894/?ref=ML2008/08/26 14:10 韓国Samsung Electronicsの米国子会社Samsung Telecommunications Americaは米国時間2008年8月25日,ニューアーク・リバティー国際空港に50台の電子機器用充電ステーションを設置したと発表した。利用は無料。空港の利用客は,ターミナルA,B,Cで携帯電話やノート・パソコンなどの電子機器を充電できる。充電ステーションには1台あたり4つの差し込み口があり,米国の電圧に対応した機器で利用可能。ニュージャージー州の公益事業Public Service Electric and Gas(PSE&G)が全ステーションの電力供給を行う。Samsungはこれまで,ジョン・F・ケネディ国際空港,ロサンジェルス国際空港,ラガーディア空港,オーランド国際空港,ミネアポリス・セントポール国際空港に合計157台の充電ステーションを設置しているという。また,ダラス・フォートワース国際空港内の同社トラベル・センターにも8台の充電ステーションがある。 [発表資料へ]


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低炭素社会支えるコア技術/拡大するリチウムイオン電池市場


http://premium.nikkeibp.co.jp/em/column/torii/32/
2008年8月21日(木)公開
モバイル機器の普及などを理由に、リチウムイオン電池の増産に向けた設備投資が活発化している。日本経済新聞は2008年7月3日朝刊で、三洋電機が200億円を投入する新工場建設のニュースを、また、2008年7月31日の朝刊では、松下電器産業の約1200億円という投資計画を報じている。リチウムイオン電池の増産投資に拍車をかけているのが、次世代自動車の電源用としての需要で、電機メーカーと自動車メーカーによる共同事業の計画も相次いで発表されている。また、安全管理や普及拡大を目的にした規格の統一の検討も始まっている。リチウムイオン電池は、日本企業が初めて量産化に成功し、現在も性能向上などを目的に精力的な研究が行われている。温室効果ガス排出を削減する有力な手段の一つは、電気を上手に使うことである。電気なら、原子力や自然エネルギーからつくることもできる。そんな電気を上手に使うキーテクノロジーになるのが二次電池である。増産の足場固めを急ぐメーカー 携帯電話やノートパソコンの電源、それに自動車用電池として、リチウムイオン電池製造に関する設備投資が活発化している。2008年7月3日の日本経済新聞朝刊は三洋電機の設備投資計画を報じているが、同社は200億円をかけてパソコンや携帯電話に使うリチウムイオン電池の新工場を兵庫県南あわじ市に建設するという。一方、日経新聞は2008年7月31日の朝刊でも、松下電器産業の約1200億円という投資計画を記事にしている。さらに8月5日の同紙朝刊では、ソニーがリチウムイオン電池の生産能力を、2010年末までに現在より8割引き上げることを発表したと報じた。三洋電機の新工場は2009年春に稼働する予定。大阪府貝塚市に建設中の工場と合わせると約540億円の投資で、両工場の生産能力は月2100万個、両工場が完成すると三洋電機全体の生産能力は月9000万個になる。一方の松下電器は、新工場を大阪市に建設することと既存工場の増強で、2011年秋までに全世界の生産能力を現在の3倍強にあたる年9億個強に高め、世界市場におけるシェアを20%に引き上げる計画という。またソニーは、2010年度までの3年間で400億円を投じて全社の生産能力を月7400万個に引き上げるとしている。他業種と一体で開発が進む次世代自動車用 一方、ハイブリッド車や電気自動車をターゲットにしたリチウムイオン電池についても、設備投資計画などの発表が相次いでいる。2008年3月5日の日経新聞朝刊は、「リチウム電池、日立、GMに大量納入」という見出しの記事を掲載した。日立が輸出するのは、米ゼネラル・モーターズ(GM)が2010年に北米市場に投入するハイブリッド車10万台以上分のリチウムイオン電池。日立グループは共同で、実際に電池を生産する子会社の日立ビークルエナジー(本社・茨城県ひたちなか市)に60億円を追加出資する。また、2008年5月10日の日経新聞朝刊は、日産自動車がNECと共同でリチウムイオン電池の量産に乗り出すと伝えた。約200億円を投じて神奈川県に新工場を建設して2009年春から生産を開始し、年間6万~12万台分の電池を量産する。翌5月11日の日経新聞朝刊は、ドイツのフォルクスワーゲンと三洋電機がリチウムイオン電池を共同開発すると報じたが、これと関連し、2008年5月29日の日経新聞朝刊は、三洋電機がハイブリッド車用リチウムイオン電池事業に8年間で800億円を投資する計画を発表したと伝えた。2010年春には「アウディ」ブランドで、三洋製電池を搭載したハイブリッド車が発売される予定だという。このほかにも、2008年5月23日の日経新聞朝刊は、トヨタ自動車と松下電器が共同出資するパナソニックEVエナジーが、本社のある静岡県湖西市に約100億円を投資してリチウムイオン電池生産の新工場を建設する計画を報じている。ここで生産した電池は家庭の電源で充電できるプラグイン・ハイブリッド車用で、年間数万台分を生産する計画だという。また、トヨタのハイブリッド車はニッケル水素電池を用いているが、これについても、約300億円を投じて宮城県に工場を新設する計画である。トヨタと松下電器はこの増産態勢の構築に向けて、パナソニックEVエナジーに対して200億円を追加出資するという。これらの設備投資によって、トヨタは2011年をメドに、ハイブリッド車の生産量を年間約100万台に引き上げる計画を立てている。2008年5月24日の朝日新聞朝刊は、リチウムイオン電池をめぐる電機メーカーと自動車会社の関係をまとめた解説記事を掲載している。ここまでに取り上げた組み合わせ以外に、ジーエス・ユアサと三菱自動車の共同開発に触れている。このような自動車と電機メーカーの組み合わせに対して慎重な姿勢を見せているのがホンダとソニーである。この朝日新聞の記事では、「リチウムイオン電池は発展途中。今は複数メーカーから買うのが望ましい」という、ホンダの福井威夫社長の談話が掲載されている。また、ソニーの中鉢良治社長は、すでに引用した2008年8月5日の日経新聞朝刊の記事で、開発・量産投資がかさむ自動車向けの電池について、「研究はするが、何も決めていない」と話している。低炭素時代を支えるリチウムイオン電池 このような各社の動きに呼応するように、リチウムイオン電池に関する規格・基準づくりも進められている。1年前の記事になるが、2007年8月16日の日経新聞朝刊は、2006年から2007年にかけてリチウムイオン電池の発火事故などが続き、これを受けて、電池工業会や電子情報技術産業協会、情報通信ネットワーク産業協会、カメラ映像機器工業会が協力してリチウムイオン電池のあらたな安全基準づくりに取り組むという話題を紹介した。この記事によると、経済産業省も「消費生活用製品安全法」を改正して、基準不適合製品の販売を禁止するとした。2008年2月19日の日経新聞朝刊によると、この4業界団体が2007年末にまとめた安全基準を国際規格としてIEC(国際電気標準会議)に提出したという。最近では、自動車用のリチウムイオン電池についても標準化の動きが始まっている。2008年7月19日の日経新聞朝刊によると、トヨタ、日産、松下電器などは、電池の安全基準や充電方式について標準案を作成し、ISO(国際標準化機構)に提案するという。標準化が進めば充電電圧や充電機器が統一され、電気自動車やプラグイン・ハイブリッド車の開発費削減が可能になるし、充電ステーションなどのインフラ整備にも弾みがつく。さらに、安全性についての試験方法などが統一される。リチウムイオン電池をめぐるこのような状況を、電力会社としても黙って見ているわけではない。2008年8月8日の日経新聞朝刊は「電気自動車、東電、首都圏に充電拠点網」という見出しの記事を掲載した。ショッピングセンターや大学などに協力を求め、2009年度に200カ所程度、急速充電ができる専用設備を設置するという。東京電力は5分間の充電で40km、10分間で60km走れる急速充電装置を開発しているという。リチウムイオン電池の技術開発についてもいくつかの報道があった。2008年6月2日の日経新聞夕刊は、日立マクセルと長崎大学、独立行政法人産業技術総合研究所などが協力し、マンガンとリチウムを組み合わせた電極材料で1万回以上の充放電を繰り返せる技術を開発したと報じた。3~4年後の実用化をめざし、2009年度には試作品を発表するという。さらに、プラス極用の材料として、ニッケルとマンガンを利用する技術を住友化学筑波研究所が開発したと2008年6月6日の朝日新聞朝刊が伝えた。従来技術ではプラス極にコバルトを使うが、近年、コバルトの価格が急騰しており、住友化学の技術は大きなコストダウンにつながる可能性がある。また、2008年7月7日の日経新聞朝刊は、出光興産がリチウムイオン電池に用いる固体電解質(通常は液体状)を開発し、電池の安全性や耐熱性を向上させることに成功したというニュースを掲載した。最近のニュースを見るかぎり、家庭用二次電池も、自動車用電池もこれからはリチウムイオン電池が主役になると考えることができそうである。昨年5月の本コラムで触れたように、ソニーが世界に先駆けて量産化に成功したリチウムイオン電池が二次電池の主役になることは、この分野の温暖化対策でも日本の技術が主導権を握ることを意味している。また、高性能で大容量の二次電池が家庭に普及することは、太陽電池や風力発電の普及を促す効果もある。発電が不安定な太陽電池などをシステム内の二次電池とつなぐことで安定性を向上することができるためで、再生可能エネルギーを活用するうえでも大いに効果を発揮しそうだ。
鳥井 弘之 氏 (とりい ひろゆき)NPOテクノ未来塾理事長
1942年東京都生まれ。1969年東京大学大学院工学系研究科修士課程修了。1969年日本経済新聞社入社、1987年より論説委員を務め、2002年日本経済新聞社退社。2002年から2008年3月まで東京工業大学原子炉工学研究所教授、東京大学先端科学技術研究センター客員教授を兼務。また、科学技術・学術審議会臨時委員などを務める。主な著書に『原子力の未来―持続可能な発展への構想』(日本経済新聞社)、『科学技術文明再生論─社会との共進化関係を取り戻せ』(日本経済新聞社)、『どう見る、どう考える、放射性廃棄物』(エネルギーフォーラム)、共著に『「原発ごみ」はどこへ』(エネルギーフォーラム)などがある。


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日産、ラミネート型Liイオン2次電池の研究施設を公開


図1◎「バッテリーラボ」を公開し、Liイオン2次電池の構造および試作工程を説明した

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20080821/156677/
2008/08/21 12:56 日産自動車は2008年8月、先進技術説明会を開催し、HEV(ハイブリッド車)やEV(電気自動車)向けにLiイオン2次電池を開発する総合研究所の「バッテリーラボ」を公開した。この施設は電極材料などを調合して、小型のセルを試作し、特性を評価するためのもの。バッテリーラボで試作する電池は、HEVやEVに使われるセルよりも小型のサイズとなる。自動車用電池のセルは同社のラミネート型では数十cm角の大きさとなるが、こうした大きなセルを手作りするのは難しい。そこで、実際のセルとの相関が取れることを確認した上で、幅が10cm程度の小型セルを試作している。ラボには電極の活物質を調合するかくはん機やアルミシートに活物質を塗布する機械、そして塗布した活物質を均一の厚さにするプレス機などが置かれている。電極材料は、活物質、導電性を高める導電助剤、バインダを混合しているが、この配合を行った後にアルミシートに塗布する。正極材の活物質はマンガン酸リチウム(以下Mn系)で、負極剤の活物質は非晶質カーボンである。正極と負極が完成すると間にセパレータをはさみ、電流を取り出すためのタブと呼ぶ端子を設けて、それらを重ねて樹脂製フィルムでシールし電解液を封入する。その後、セルは充放電試験や解析によって特性を評価し、この結果を異なる材料や構造の開発に生かす。正極材料についてはMn系を使っているが、HEV用とEV用では配合する導電助剤(カーボン系)の割合が異なるとする。導電助剤を多く含むのはHEV用で、電流が取り出しやすくなるため出力を高められるが、活物質の量は減ってしまうので容量の点では不利。一方、EV用は導電助剤は少ないが、逆に容量は高めやすい。実用化に向けてはHEV用とEV用の2種類のセルを用意しており、EV用のセルと複数のセルを収納した電池パックも展示した。EV用のセルはエネルギを多く蓄える必要があり、活物質の量を増やしているためセルの面積がHEV用よりも大きくなっている。電池のスペックについては部分的な公開にとどまった。HEV用は瞬時に出力をどれだけ取り出せるかが重要で、その指標である出力密度は2500W/kgと「ティーノハイブリッド」に使われたものの2倍だという。一方、EV用では航続距離を伸ばすために蓄えられるエネルギが重要となる。この指標であるエネルギ密度は140Wh/kgまで高めたという。なお、正極材としてはMn系以外に、より安全性が高いとされる鉄系の材料も研究している。

図2◎ラボ内には写真に見えるかくはん機や活物質を塗布する機械、プレス機などがある

図3◎HEV用電池の電極は活物質(白色)に対して導電助剤(紫色)が多い

図4◎EV用電池の電極は活物質(白色)が多く導電助剤(紫色)は少ない

図5◎展示したEV用電池。セルの面積はHEV用より大きい


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経産省、「DCエコハウス」推進-メーカー公募し開発に補助金


http://www.nikkan.co.jp/news/nkx0720080826aaaa.html
 経済産業省は、太陽光で発電された電気のロスを防ぐ住宅の開発支援に乗り出す。直流(DC)のまま家電製品を利用できる「DCエコハウス」構想を推進する。09年度をめどに、開発に参画するパネル、蓄電、情報家電、住宅など各メーカーを公募、研究開発費用を補助金として交付する。家庭を含む民生部門の環境対策が不可欠で、政府は太陽光発電の導入拡大を目指している。今後、国が旗振り役となり太陽光発電の効率的な給電システムが実現すれば、普及をより後押しする可能性が高い。 一般的に太陽光で電気機器を稼働させる場合、電力会社の設備が交流電流向けであるため、発電された直流電流を交流に変換し、再び直流に切り替える3段階の手順を踏む必要がある。この際、数%の電力ロスが発生するといわれており、シャープなど民間の一部では、直流のまま家電製品を動かすことができる「DCエコハウス」を目指す動きが出始めている。


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ソーラー無人機、連続飛行82時間超の記録を樹立



http://wiredvision.jp/news/200808/2008082622.html
2008年8月26日Priya Ganapati
イギリスの防衛技術企業QinetiQ社は、太陽エネルギーを動力源とする同社の航空機『Zephyr』が無人飛行で82時間37分を記録し、非公式の世界記録を樹立したと発表した

米国[Northrop Grumman社]の無人偵察機『Global Hawk』が2001年に打ち立てた現在の公式記録30時間24分をはるかに上回る数字だ。

超軽量の炭素繊維製で太陽エネルギーを動力源とし、人の手を借りて離陸するZephyrは、高高度長時間滞空(HALE)型の無人航空機(UAV)だ。

昼間は、翼を覆う紙ほどに薄いアモルファスシリコン製の太陽電池パネルによって作り出される動力で飛行する。夜になると、昼間に太陽エネルギーを使って充電しておいたリチウム−硫黄電池から動力を得る。

今回の飛行試験は、アリゾナ州にある米陸軍のユマ実験場の、最高気温が摂氏45度になることもある砂漠で、7月28日から31日にかけて行なわれた。QinetiQ社によると、Zephyrは自動操縦機能と衛星通信を使って飛行し、最高高度は1万8000メートルを超えたという。

[BBCの記事によると、高度1万8000メートルでは気温がマイナス70度になる。Zephyrの重量は30キログラムで、2キログラムの通信機器を搭載した。開発には英国防省と米国防総省が協力している。同記事には動画もある]

Zephyrのこれまでで最も長い飛行は、2007年に記録した54時間だった。『BBC News』によれば、Zephyrの記録が非公式となっているのは、QinetiQ社が[航空関連の]記録認定を行なっている『国際航空連盟』の立会いを求めなかったためだという。

QinetiQ社によると、Zephyrの用途としては、地球の観測や、防衛・民間分野での通信中継などへの利用が考えられるという。

BBC Newsの記事を参考にした。

[民間ジェット機より3倍以上高い高度3万メートルで、6カ月間継続して飛行できることを目指すNASAのソーラー無人機についての日本語版記事はこちら]

[日本語版:ガリレオ-平井眞弓/高橋朋子]

WIRED NEWS 原文(English)



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大変革期に入った自動車業界:IBM研が近未来を予測


http://wiredvision.jp/news/200808/2008082623.html
Chuck Squatriglia
Photo Credit: Nissan

2020年までには、すべての新車がある程度のハイブリッド技術を備えている。そしてバッテリー技術は普及し、自動車はほかの自動車や道路と通信を行なって、ドライビングはより安全で簡単なものになっている――。

これは、米IBM社の研究所、IBMビジネス・バリュー・インスティテュート(IBV)が発表したレポート『Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos』(2020年の自動車:混沌の先の明確さ)に描かれている未来図だ。

15ヵ国125人の自動車業界幹部とのインタビューを基にした同レポートによると、自動車業界は現在、環境的な持続可能性と技術革新を最優先事項とする大きな変わり目の時期にあり、自動車メーカーは今後、性能や快適性、信頼性を犠牲にせず、なおかつより効率的な自動車を求める消費者の需要に応えていくことになるという。

ヨーロッパのある自動車メーカー幹部(レポートで発言している人物はすべて匿名扱い)は、次のように述べている。「次の10年は、過去50年を上回る変革を経験することになるだろう」

その変革はすでに始まっている。

自動車メーカー、政策立案者、および環境問題専門家の間では、自動車の電化は不可避ということで意見が一致しつつあり、大手自動車メーカーのほとんどがハイブリッド車やプラグイン・ハイブリッド車開発を行なっている

現在、こうした車が市場に占める割合は3%以下に過ぎないが、IBM社のレポートは「2020年以降、製造されるすべての自動車に、ある程度のハイブリッド化が認められるようになる」と予測している。

ずいぶんと大胆な予測に聞こえるかもしれないが、ガソリンと電気のハイブリッド車に対する関心は急激に高まっており、このレポート以外にも、2013年までには年間販売台数が200万台に到達し、市場に89種ものハイブリッドモデルが出回るという予測もある[Newsweekの記事が引用している予測で、現行モデル数は16]。

IBM社のレポートによると、バッテリー技術は今後12年以内に広く普及し、自動車メーカーとその部品製造業者は、研究開発の大半を、自動車にバッテリーを組み込むためのソフトウェアと電子工学に集中させることになるという。

レポートはこれについて、ある米国人幹部の「エネルギーの貯蔵は、次世代の燃費向上に対する取り組みの焦点となるだろう」という発言を紹介している。実際、日産とRenaultが提携するBetter PLC社が、数年以内に米国などで電気自動車のインフラ整備を行ない電気自動車の販売を開始することになっており[Better PLC社についての日本語版記事はこちら]、三菱自動車も、2008年中にカリフォルニア州で電気自動車[『i MiEV』]の走行試験を開始する。

ただし、同レポートはバッテリーのコストについて、これを採用した車の全体的コストに占める割合が10〜15%にものぼると推測しており、コストの問題は今後も電気自動車の市場での急拡大を阻む大きな障害として残るだろう。

また、バイオ燃料への投資は今後も続くが、この技術が「世界的に採用され浸透するには、急速な進化を遂げることが必要だ」という。同レポートは、トウモロコシなどの食用作物を原料としたエタノールはすでに行き詰まりの感があるが、セルロース由来のエタノール(日本語版記事)は「幅広い支持を得られる可能性がある」と指摘している。

また、従来の化石燃料は、2020年には市場の65%を占めるにとどまり、自動車の二酸化炭素排出量は、1キロメートルあたり平均97グラムにまで減少するという。これはトヨタ自動車の『プリウス』現行モデルの排出量を7グラム下回る数字だ。

水素についてはもう少し待たねばならない。レポートは、「水素燃料電池を搭載した自動車は、今後も現実的な代替技術であり続けるだろう」と結論付けているが、楽観的な人たちでさえ、2020年の自動車市場で水素がほんのわずか以上の割合を占めているとは予想していない。水素を生成し、輸送し、販売するために必要なインフラが近い将来整備されると考えている人はほとんどいない。

この先、自動車電子工学の分野で技術革新が起こる分だけ、われわれの自動車は賢くなり、できることが増えていくのだろう。すでにインターネット対応自動車の時代は幕を開けており、独BMW社、米Chrysler社などは先を争ってダッシュボードにネット接続機能を組み込もうとしているし、スウェーデンのVolvo社などは、[レーダーやソナーなどの技術を使って事故を防ぎ、事故の際には自動車自身が回避行動を取る]事故防止システムを開発している。

レポートによると、2020年には自動車はほかの自動車と通信することで事故を防ぎ、道路と通信して随時変化する交通状況に対応し、さらには遠隔測定により問題の診断と修理を行なうようになるという。

自動車は今後、バッテリーと先進的な電子装置への依存度を急速に高め、自動車メーカーは家電業界、通信業界、エネルギー業界と協力することが必要になってくる、とレポートは主張している。

実は、この動きもすでに始まっている。自動車メーカー数社は米Microsoft社と共同で『Sync』の自社版の開発を進めており[Syncは、米Ford社がMicrosoft社と共同開発した車載通信・エンターテインメントシステム]、また日産自動車と日本電気(NEC)、トヨタ自動車と松下電器産業はそれぞれ、バッテリーの生産事業で提携している。

米General Motors(GM)社は、米国の配電網をプラグイン・ハイブリッド車と電気自動車に対応させるため34の電力会社と提携を結んだ[リリース]。こうした協力の例は、今後ますます増えていくだろう。

ある日本の業界幹部はこう語っている。「業界内だけですべての仕事ができる時代はもう終わった。何かを実現させるには、複数の外部組織との連携が必要だ」

[日本語版:ガリレオ-緒方 亮/高橋朋子]
WIRED NEWS 原文(English)








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2008/08/25

「太陽光無人偵察機」2年以内に実戦配備へ=BBC:イギリスの「ゼファー6」、82時間の連続飛行に成功



http://www.chosunonline.com/article/20080825000013
 昼の間に太陽光発電でバッテリーを充電しておき、その電力で夜間も飛行を続ける、という手法で数カ月間連続して作戦行動可能な無人偵察機が、2年以内に実戦配備される。イギリスBBC放送が23日に報じたところによると、イギリスの防衛企業キネティック社が開発した太陽エネルギー無人偵察機「ゼファー6」(写真)が、米国アリゾナ州ユマにある米陸軍の実験場で、先月28日から31日まで82時間37分飛び続け、無人飛行機の連続飛行で最長記録を達成した。この次世代偵察機は、米国国防省が開発資金を支援した。ゼファー6は、一般の旅客機の運航高度より2倍も高い高度1万8000メートル以上という高空で遠隔操縦により活動する。BBCが伝えたところによると、翼の長さは18メートルに達するが、重さは30キロに過ぎないという。しかし、この無人機は最先端技術の結晶だ。胴体は最先端の炭素繊維を材料に用いることで重量を画期的に減らし、45度の高温から零下70度の超低音まで耐えられる。また、両翼には紙より薄い「非結晶シリコン薄膜」太陽光発電パネルが装着され、バッテリーにも既存の製品より2倍以上効率がよい新技術が用いられている。キネティック社は現在、米国ボーイング社と共同で、重さ約450キロの偵察・通信装備を積んで飛行可能な超大型太陽エネルギー偵察機を作る「ハゲワシ(Vulture)」計画に参加している。同社のポール・デイビー開発局長は、「3カ月間連続飛行できるようシステムを改善し、2年以内に実用化する計画だ」と語った。


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The Fuel-Cell Racing Go-Kart:A hydrogen-powered carbon-fiber go-kart built by 40 undergrads hits 60 mph and sports an ultra-capacitor for rapid accele


Clean Machine: Lawrence Tech’s hydrogen-powered carbon-fiber go-kart will hit 60 mph. An ultra-capacitor provides rapid acceleration.

http://www.popsci.com/annemarie-conte-and-esther-haynes/article/2008-08/fuel-cell-racing-go-kart
By Annemarie Conte and Esther Haynes Posted 08.22.2008 at 2:32 pm
When Lawrence Tech's Element One team won top honors in the first-ever Formula Zero design competition—a contest created by two Dutch auto designers to get young engineers interested in hydrogen cars—they received two prizes: a fuel cell, and a deadline. The award meant they had the green light to build their design and race against other student teams in the Formula Zero hydrogen-powered go-kart race, which starts this month in the Netherlands. And just like that, they were off, scrambling to get their kart ready in time.

For maximum power, Element One paired their fuel cell with ultracapacitors, which can rapidly discharge power for intense acceleration and recharge quickly in pit stops. But to reach 60mph-plus racing speeds with a modest 48-horsepower electric motor, they also needed to make their kart as light as possible. “Rather than going with a steel tubular frame like most of our competitors, we built a 100 percent non-tubular carbon-fiber frame, which is normally used in the airline industry, and it saved us 40 pounds,” says body-and-chassis team leader Camille Robbins. The risk with a stiff, non-tubular carbon frame is that it might crack under pressure, but the team, whose 7-by-5-foot kart weighs in at 450 pounds, insists that they’ve tweaked the suspension so that the chassis should remain strong under any normal racing circumstances. How they pulled it off, they won’t say. “It is a competition, after all,” Robbins says.

WHAT’S NEXT Winning the race. The first of the series of four Formula Zero races was to begin on August 22 in Rotterdam. After that, the team competes in Spain, the U.S. and the U.K.



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Stationary bike designed to create electricity


Pedal Power (John Blanchard / The Chronicle)


David Butcher shows off the results of a workout on his exhibition-model stationary bike, which can supply electricity directly to appliances. (Eric Luse / The Chronicle)


David Butcher generates power for his home office by riding a stationary bike that he designed to produce energy. Because this method generates only a small amount of power, Butcher's home is also equipped with a number of energy-saving devices. (Eric Luse / The Chronicle)


David Butcher generates power for his home office by riding a stationary bike that he designed to produce energy. (Eric Luse / The Chronicle)


David Butcher sits in his Corbin Sparrow 2000 electric car. (Eric Luse / The Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/HOKO11469A.DTL
Nick Czap, Special to The Chronicle

Saturday, August 23, 2008
Like a number of highly motivated people, David Butcher starts every day with a workout. His poison: 45 minutes on a stationary bicycle.

Fitness is part of the incentive, but Butcher's primary motivation is a long-standing, and possibly obsessive, quest to generate his own electricity. So Butcher's stationary bike, which is wedged in a corner of his detached garage, is not your standard-issue exercise machine: It's a homemade power plant.

Butcher designed his ingeniously simple pedal generator for maximum comfort and efficiency: As the rider pedals, a wooden flywheel drives an electric motor, which generates an electric current that flows into a bank of salvaged lead-acid batteries for storage. A buried cable connects the batteries to a set of conspicuous orange outlets (denoting the off-the-grid energy source) in Butcher's home office, where he works as a Web design consultant. The orange outlets power several devices, including a computer monitor (but not the computer), cell phone chargers, a high-efficiency area light and a small Roomba robotic vacuum.

Last year, Butcher's electricity bill was zero. In fact, he pumped $150 worth of electricity back into the grid. But here's the catch: It wasn't the pedaling that did it. Although Butcher's daily workouts produce 1.8 kilowatt-hours a month, that translates into just 18 cents worth of electricity at today's rates - about 1 percent of his average monthly usage.

Instead, Butcher's energy-efficient house contributed 1,500 kilowatt-hours into the grid after a recent retrofit added photovoltaic panels to the roof.

His cedar-shingled bungalow on a quiet, tree-lined street in San Jose also makes use of skylights and other energy-saving devices, and it now produces far more electricity than it consumes.

"It's not a monetary payoff," Butcher says of his pedal project. "And if you want your pedal power to do anything meaningful, you have to run efficient devices."

Hence, Butcher's home is tricked out with both high-tech and low-tech energy savers:

-- Large windows in the rear of the house provide passive solar heating.

-- Devices called X10 modules kill electrical "vampires," such as microwave oven clocks and other "always-on" electronics. Remotely controlled by Butcher's computer, X10 modules (each outlet has one) turn appliances on and off according to when they're needed. For example, since Butcher doesn't run his dishwasher during the day, the computer doesn't turn on the dishwasher outlet until nighttime.

-- Suntubes (tubular skylights) illuminate the interior of the house during the day.

-- LEDs (light-emitting diodes) in lamps use even fewer watts than CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps).

Oil spill sparked interest
Butcher, who lives alone after a divorce, traces his environmental leanings to the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, which marred miles of coastline with 200,000 gallons of crude oil. Butcher was 14 at the time and witnessed it firsthand. He built his first pedal generator when he was in his early 20s.

"I was always interested in alternative energy and solar in particular," he says. "I was living in Portland, Ore., where solar is not as much of an option. So I thought, 'What else could I do?'

"I'd been on a swim team for years and I was in pretty good shape, and I thought there must be a way to get some power going."

Butcher's prototype bicycle was chain-driven and featured a welded steel frame. Today's version, with its simplified drivetrain and bolted frame, can be assembled with basic hand tools.

When he took up his pedaling regimen two years ago, Butcher tipped the scales at 180 pounds. Today, at age 53, he weighs a lean 150 and possesses a pair of legs that wouldn't look out of place on the Olympic cycling squad. Butcher's pedaling has become so efficient that he has pretty much abandoned his car (electric, incidentally) in favor of bicycling, reducing his carbon footprint still further.

Whenever people ask why he doesn't sell the pedal generator plans to gyms, Butcher's answer reflects his simple philosophy: "If you want to save energy, don't drive to the gym."

The combination of these positive impacts inspired Butcher to market the plans for his invention, and to date he's sold more than 300 sets of blueprints around the world.

Butcher built a second bicycle generator for demonstration purposes, with energy fairs - and, apparently, journalists - in mind. While his everyday pedal generator is set up to charge batteries, the exhibition model is tricked out with extras (an ultracapacitor, a digital meter and an inverter) to supply power to various devices directly. This way, riders can get a sense of how much physical effort it takes to power, say, a lightbulb versus a television set versus a coffeepot.

Although the two generators are similar in design, the exhibition model sports a sleek Plexiglas flywheel and dual electric motors. Wires connect the motors (inexpensive units used in electric scooters) to an ultracapacitor, which modulates the electrical current. A digital meter displays the energy statistics of each workout. An inverter changes the current from DC to AC, relaying it to several electrical outlets. Butcher designed the generator for maximum efficiency, which is key, because, as I was about to learn, generating electricity is a lot of work.

A cup of java
With Butcher's blessing, I hop on and start pedaling. I've been pedaling up San Francisco hills for 15 years, so how hard can this be?

Butcher instructs me to keep the output steady at 12 volts. I'm cruising at an easy clip when he switches on a compact fluorescent lamp. As the bulb winks on, the numbers fluctuate slightly on the meter readout, indicating an energy draw, but because the CFL is so efficient, it doesn't add any perceptible drag to the flywheel.

I realize there's something fundamentally gratifying about making your own electricity. You spin a wheel, a light goes on: It's magic. The fact that it's good for the environment is an added bonus.

After powering the CFL for several minutes I'm ready to up the ante.

"Want to try to make some coffee?" Butcher asks mischievously. He retrieves a pint-sized drip machine from the garage. As I charge up the ultracapacitor, Butcher fills the coffeemaker reservoir with water and throws the switch. I rev up the flywheel, preparing to blow the coffeepot away.

"Don't overreact," he warns. "Just gradually ramp up as it starts asking for more power." The voltage dips ominously on the readout. "Now, you won't really feel the draw until you try to start preventing that from dropping." The voltage slips: 11 ... 10 ... 9.

"Don't let that drop anymore," he cautions. The coffeemaker needs a constant 12-volt supply to do its thing. I pedal my way back to 12 volts and valiantly try to maintain it, but as the coffeepot's electrical appetite adds resistance to the flywheel, my leisurely ride begins to feel like an uphill sprint.

"Hold it steady," he says. Two minutes in, my legs are on fire.

"How's the coffee coming?" I gasp.

"Well, unfortunately, you've got to heat a substantial amount of water before the first drop comes out," he says.

At three minutes, I call it quits, wheezing like a mule with a punctured lung.

"No coffee for you," Butcher says sympathetically.

As I catch my breath, Butcher explains that heating water takes a tremendous amount of energy, and that without abundant, cheap electricity, we could all kiss our lattes goodbye.

Butcher already has. He brews his coffee cold, in a French press.

"It really brings it home to actually feel how hard you have to pedal to make something go," Butcher says, "and that's something that people will occasionally ask me on the Web site: 'So do you actually have to pedal harder when you're pedaling bigger things like TVs?' "

(I can testify that, yes, one does.)

"And it shows that the concept of work, that electricity is doing work as opposed to just being off or on, is not familiar to people."


CHAT WITH INNOVATOR
David Butcher broadcasts his morning generator workouts live on his Web site and responds to viewer questions as he pedals.

To see the pedal generator in action and chat with David Butcher, go to links.sfgate.com/ZEPA between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday-Friday.

-- To learn more about the pedal generator or to order a set of plans so you can build your own, go to links.sfgate.com/ZEPB. The site also features a resource page for teachers: links.sfgate.com/ZEPC.

LEARN TO CONSERVE
A roundup of free or low-cost workshops on topics including solar energy, drought-tolerant gardening and water conservation. F5

More on solar
As required by the California Solar Initiative and a number of Assembly bills, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and other California utilities offer a variety of incentives to residential customers who install rooftop solar systems. Incentives range from one-time payments to offset the cost of photovoltaic panels to continuing market-rate credits for the electricity that customers generate. To find out more, go to:

-- The California Solar Initiative Web site at www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/csi/index.html.
-- PG&E's solar energy information Web site at www.pge.com/solar.
Nick Czap is a frequent contributor to Home&Garden. E-mail him at home@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page F - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle


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Toronto's Zenn Electric Car Sells in California, Banned at Home


Mike Borbely, owner of green home design firm Novuspace, poses for a portrait at a home he designed with solar panels on the roof in San Jose, California, on Aug. 14, 2008. Mike owns an electric Zenn car and is building a new home with solar panels to help charge the car. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg News

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=ahKJAxUzMkSY&refer=canada
By Hugo Miller
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Mike Borbely likes his Canadian-made Zenn electric car so much he's planning to install solar panels on his garage roof so he can charge it for free.

``The Zenn really takes care of the lion's share of my commuting needs,'' said Borbely, a 45-year-old home designer from San Jose, California. He drives the boxy two-seater, which has a top speed of 25 miles (40 kilometers) an hour, to visit clients, he said.

Good thing Borbely is from California. He couldn't buy the Zenn in Toronto. Zenn Motor Co. has no customers in its hometown because the Ontario government has banned low-speed electric cars such as the Zenn from public roads, citing safety concerns.

At least 40 U.S. states, including California and Washington, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Quebec deem electric cars like the Zenn to be safe as long as they don't exceed their mandated maximum speeds. Ontario says more research is needed.

``It's been somewhat mind-boggling; the U.S. has been much more welcoming than Canada,'' Zenn Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Ian Clifford said in an interview at his Toronto office. ``Why is this niche treated so differently in the two countries?''

Off Limits

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation this month ordered studies of low-speed electric cars to see if they are safe for public roads. The government has been testing the vehicles in parks across the province since 2006. Until the studies are complete, as late as 2011, Zenns will be off limits in Canada's most populous province.

``We want low-speed electric vehicles on our roads, and we are looking at how it can be done safely,'' Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said in a statement announcing the new research.

Small electric cars like the Zenn typically meet only three of 40 safety standards required of regular passenger cars for brakes, bumpers and other components or functions, said Emna Dhahak, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transportation in Toronto.

Ontario's ban hasn't deterred investors. Zenn has jumped fivefold on the Toronto Stock Exchange since its initial public offering in 2005, boosting its market value to C$160 million ($153 million). The stock fell 10 cents to C$4.80 yesterday.

No Emissions

The Zenn, an acronym for ``zero emissions, no noise,'' is the result of six years of tinkering by Clifford, 45, a former photographer and technology entrepreneur. He sold his Toronto Internet marketing company, digIT Interactive Inc., in 2000 to focus on developing an electric car.

His team originally planned to revive and convert the Dauphine, a French sedan built by Renault SA more than 40 years ago. Zenn built prototypes and sold them at the 2001 Toronto auto show.

Further experimentation led to a more modern design, and the company teamed up with France's Microcar SA to make a chassis and shell. Assembly began at Zenn's plant in Saint- Jerome, Quebec, in late 2006.

Zenn's niche is a tiny one. The company, which has 40 employees, has sold 350 Zenns, about a third of them in California. It lost $C6.98 million last year on sales of $C2.3 million.

General Motors Corp., the biggest U.S. automaker, says it will produce 10,000 Volt electric cars in the model's first full year after it hits the market in 2010. Toyota Motor Corp. plans a plug-in version of its best-selling Prius hybrid, also in 2010.

``We don't want to become a GM or Toyota,'' but a developer of new electric drive systems, Clifford said.

Running Cost

The basic Zenn, without options such as air conditioning, a sunroof and power windows, sells for $15,995. The car plugs into a conventional electrical outlet and can go 30 to 50 miles on a single charge, depending on how fast it's driven and whether the air conditioning is used.

The attraction for Zenn drivers is an operating cost of two cents a mile, according to the company. That's about a third of the cost of running a gas-electric hybrid vehicle and a sixth of what it takes to drive a conventional car, the company says.

Todd Madeiros, president of Greenrides, an electric car dealership near San Jose, says he sells an average of three Zenn cars a month, about half his monthly volume. Queries from potential customers have soared since gasoline topped $4 a gallon earlier this year, Madeiros said.

``We're getting four times the calls we were three months ago,'' he said. Madeiros says he will open a second dealership in San Luis Obispo on the California coast by the end of next month.

Bigger, Faster

Zenn CEO Clifford says he's not going to spend more time trying to get the Ontario government to approve the present Zenn.

While the company plans to add four-seat and truck utility versions of its low-speed Zenn for approved markets, Clifford says he will develop a bigger, faster vehicle called the cityZENN by early 2010. It will be sold initially in Europe, where the certification process is quicker, he said.

According to Clifford, the car should reach speeds of 125 kilometers an hour, and go 400 kilometers between power charges, aided by a new technology being developed by privately owned EEStor Inc. of Cedar Park, Texas. Dick Weir, EEStor's founder and president, declined to comment.

San Jose Zenn owner Borbely says he's heard of the cityZENN. ``Boy, if that did come out it would revolutionize everything,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto on hugomiller@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 22, 2008 00:01 EDT








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Shysters and Vapourware


PHOTO CAPTION: It took a miniature nuclear reactor -- or a lightning bolt -- to power the fictional 'flux capacitor' that sent Dr. Brown's DeLorean time machine 'back to the future.' We'd settle for a good, reliable, affordable 30kwh battery.

http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1517
By Daniel Simpson
Concluding segment in 3-part series 'In Search of the Flux Capacitor'
Open Access Article Originally Published: August 22, 2008
SHYSTERS AND VAPOURWARE
Since leaving Tesla earlier this year, Eberhard's been weighing up three business plans. One seems to involve doing as he thinks Tesla ought to: going into business with a mainstream carmaker. The next is to help make the grid work more intelligently to meet demand from plug-ins. But his favourite seems to be another way of helping hybrids take off: developing a solid oxide fuel cell. Rather than using a three-cylinder engine to turn liquid fuel into electricity, this device does it electrochemically, which makes the process more efficient. There's a drawback, however: it has to run at almost 100 degrees Celsius, so you need a way to keep it cool. "That's not insurmountable," Eberhard says, but it's yet to be surmounted.

The world of EVs and hybrids is awash with new ideas and expectations, many of which may not amount to much. Spotting the ones that will is much easier said than done, particularly in the field of energy storage. But whichever technological variant takes off, and whatever the incentives that back it, the batteries and power management systems will be similar, at least for now. One company that aims to change that is the Canadian carmaker ZENN (which stands for Zero Emissions No Noise). Its cityZENN model, an upgrade supposedly capable of 80 mph and 250 miles of range, is due to launch at the end of next year, ideally powered by something called an EEStor. This "game-changing energy storage technology is in the advanced stages of commercialisation," the company claims, but no one's actually verified that yet. Nevertheless, ZENN's raving about its supercapacitor as "THE key enabler of many clean technologies today: renewable energy; grid load-levelling; consumer electronics and security applications." It's like a battery, but it isn't, and if it delivers on the hype, five-minute charges could be with us within months. ZENN owns shares in EEStor, and is first in line to use it, but considering the supposed potential, the fact it hasn't upped its stake suggests things aren't quite so simple. If they're not, the cityZENN would launch powered by lithium-ion.

Capacitors are just glorified batteries, but they're touted with the sort of reverence that used to be reserved for hydrogen. As for that great hope, the former head of the CIA, James Woolsey, has six words for anyone who thinks it still should be: "Forget hydrogen, forget hydrogen, forget hydrogen," he says. It's easy to see why. One of the major drawbacks is hydrogen's density. Although it's got phenomenal amounts of energy per unit mass, it has to be compressed to reach manageable volumes, a process which gobbles up energy in its own right. And even then it's only going to take you 100 miles or so as things stand, which is no further than a decent battery pack. Boost the storage capacity and everything changes, but this has been the story for 30 years now, and it's always still not quite around the corner. That pretty much sums things up for drivers too: there's no nationwide hydrogen distribution network to fill up with. And even if there were, which would mean building many thousands of outlets, where would you actually get the hydrogen from? Whether it's water or natural gas, you've got to use a lot of energy to do it, which is why so many are sceptical – compared to how people talked it up just a few years back, hydrogen's come down to earth with quite a bump.

These days, it's being laughed off like the water car, which is a bit rich because hydrogen's problem is commercial, as opposed to physical, viability. And even then, says Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, there's still a transitional role for fuel-cell hybrids. Others aren't so sure, and they're not at all convinced by Honda's efforts to prove Lovins right, especially its decision to give an FCX Clarity to Jamie Lee Curtis. "If Honda is desperate enough to foist an uncertain technology on a celeb who no longer attracts the limelight," says Top Gear journalist Matt Master, "it illustrates one unhappy fact: whatever our transport solutions are, they are still far enough off that absolutely everyone is hedging their bets."

One man who isn't is Shai Agassi, until recently a high-flier at the software company SAP, until someone challenged him to put up or shut up about electrifying transport. In response, he quit his job and set up Project Better Place, a venture in search of a new name as well as a new kind of business model. To start with, he dismissed conventional wisdom. The problem's not with lack of battery capacity, he argues, "the Achilles heel is a lack of infrastructure." The reason people don't buy electric cars is because they don't see how they can charge them as easily as filling up a tank with petrol. After ruling out hydrogen and biofuels as alternatives that could scale "to a point where you can drive 700 million cars off it," he settled on building charging points; hundreds of thousands of them. And to get around the issue of charging time he has another radically simple solution: swapping batteries like the old New York taxis did.

"I think it's a bad idea," says Martin Eberhard. "The technology for batteries is a very, very fast moving arena still and making swappable batteries forces standardisation. It's too early. The technology is changing, the voltage of the battery, the charging rate of the battery, the charging technique of the battery, the physical size of the battery, the inner connector of the battery, communications with the battery, all of these are moving targets." So when would it make sense to think about standardising, in his view? "Just about the time that swapping batteries doesn't make sense anymore because the battery packs are big enough."

Agassi begs to differ. "We need standards," he says. "Not in terms of size, but with connectors." Even so, he's designed his swap stations, which can supposedly switch a battery in less than five minutes, to have easily replaceable connectors in case standardisation fails. The next problem Eberhard highlights is harder to deal with. The expensive thing with a battery pack is the container, not the contents, and every time you use the container it wears down slightly, so a battery back that's been used a hundred times will offer shorter range than one that's never been used. "Your car's performance will radically vary depending on what battery pack is in it at that particular moment," he says. "If you own it, you're much more likely to take care of it," but that's the opposite of the Project Better Place pricing model.

Instead buyers will be paying for their cars like mobile phones, which is Agassi's way of defraying the punitive up-front cost of buying an EV. "The more you commit, the more of a rebate you get on day one," he says. "You'd pay a certain fee for miles but the cost of the car would be subsidised and in some cases you'd be getting it for free." It's easy to grasp and will make immediate sense to most consumers, but Eberhard thinks it stinks. "It will just piss off the buyer," he argues, because most pay for electricity already, and they'll mostly charge their vehicles at home. "If I put solar panels on my roof," adds Eberhard, who's done just that and says he generates enough power to charge a car each night and run his home, "it's my goddamn electricity, I'll go and put it in my car, I don't feel I should pay him anything."

Perhaps there's room for both, argues EVWorld's Bill Moore, who's just commissioned a study which found PV panels and EVs to be a "very affordable" match. "It's the choice between renting a flat and buying a home," he says. Different models appeal to different people, but either way some kind of subsidy is probably needed to kickstart the market. In Agassi's case, he's started by signing up governments, with his native Israel and similarly sized Denmark first up. He's raised $200 million of equity for each project, with further debt issuance planned, and he expects his warchest to swell to several billion by the end of the year. Next year he aims to have 1,000 cars on Israeli roads and charging infrastructure in place. Production cars, built by Renault-Nissan, will follow in 2010, with mass production in 2011 and a target of three-quarters of a million vehicles. Agassi says Renault has promised him as many cars as he can take, and they're custom building them to make battery swaps simple.

Even so, Eberhard's not convinced. Tesla's battery pack was "built to squeeze in the space." When designing the Roadster, "we figured out all the available volume for the battery pack and then we basically filled it like water with battery," he says. "The battery pack is the single most expensive and most dangerous component of the car, no question about it. And for that reason, it needs to be very rigidly installed in the car so that bad things don't happen in a crash. Rigidly installed and highly protected. And the question is, you know, can they make a system like that, that can be realistically removed and replaced in a reasonable amount of time, and where I can ensure that even with idiots at the changing stations that it gets installed correctly every time?" And there's more. "The hardest part for us in making our car pass crash standards was making a the battery pack safe, no question about it. We were beefing up the brackets and holders so they would stay put and do what they are supposed to do in a crash and if you add on top of that the requirement that it can be quickly and easily removed and replaced, it's tricky."

Still, there are other elements to Agassi's plan. "We want to spur an industry that will continue to build green power plants," he says. In Denmark, for example, he's teamed up with a wind company to provide the energy his cars will draw from the grid. And he also wants to use them to make it more efficient. "50,000 cars represent a gigawatt of added standby power," he says. That means extra generation capacity at peak demand. Software will also play a part in regulating the energy flow into cars, which will pull into car parks with charging points, as well as the other options for refuelling. "You're not going to see all the cars start charging because they all got to work at the same time," he says. Instead the system will learn from your driving patterns how urgently you need power, minimising the strain on resources.

This "smart grid" technology is essential if plug-ins aren't to wreak havoc, and managing cars could turn out to be its killer application, though DC networks linking solar and wind farms would come a close second. Cars themselves could be fitted with solar panels too: Toyota is doing this on the Prius, though at present they're just a gimmick to charge your iPod. For now things are manageable enough, thinks Martin Eberhard, though there's plenty of investment required. "With no upgrade to the grid whatsoever," he says, "we could have roughly 40 percent of American drivers powering their cars from electricity that is charged at night." His new business plan focuses on a vital question for the future: how to prioritise which appliances draw power when. There's an enormous amount you can teach the grid about what's needed where and that will be the key to making it work on clean energy. Otherwise there'll be a need to keep expanding capacity exponentially, since the grid has to be able to deal with peak demand, which for now would mean burning more fossil fuels. Even if it did though, that would still generate fewer emissions than burning them in petrol engines.

TORQUE OF THE TOWN

The bigger concern for car buyers, however, is still where they'll be able to charge up, as well as how long it might take. With plug-ins, a label that covers pure EVs as well as hybrids, their big advantage is also the biggest headache. You get to plug them in. But you have to plug them in. And if you don't have a garage at home, this is a serious problem: hanging extension cables out the windows of apartment blocks isn't really a viable option. Eberhard says this is simple to resolve, as does Agassi, who's about to confront it: you just need to tear up the streets and install vast numbers of charging pylons. Elektromotive, a Brighton-based company which maintains a couple of dozen of them in London, hasn't really considered how to meet demand for more yet. And nor has the government, despite its call for a switch to plug-ins. But the problem's not a big one in theory, provided someone stumps up the cash.

It's unlikely, however, that a current perk for Londoners will survive. On payment of a £75 fee, which gets you a connection cable worth almost as much, and two keys to use the "JuicePoints" run by Westminster Council, EV drivers can charge up as often as they like for no fee. Since U.S. drivers say it costs them $10 a month to run low-speed cars, this isn't all that great a deal in the end. But one that certainly was has been prematurely axed, at least from the perspective of EV campaigners. From next year, there'll be no more free parking for the few hundred electric cars that enter the City of London each day, although other boroughs will continue to offer it. The freebie was "too popular," officials say, which is an odd way of putting it given the onus on councils to cut pollution and promote more sustainable transport. But there's still no road tax to pay, or daily congestion charge, and if you roll into Mayfair every morning, the savings on offer at Park Lane Masterpark mean it all adds up to a car paying for itself inside a year. This does mean that most buyers are well off, however, since they're the ones who gain most from the current incentives. "These are usually someone's third or fourth vehicle," says Izzy Wells of NICE. "By and large it's people working for hedge funds, that sort of thing. They're doing it for financial reasons, not environmental ones."

On a bigger scale, state subsidies can do more than help the environment. They could also wean America off foreign oil, and the resource-related conflict this entails, were either to be a priority for policymakers. Agassi says they should be. By his calculation, investing a sixth of a country's oil imports in EV infrastructure makes mass electrification viable. In the U.S. case that would be $100 billion. The cost of generating 50 years of renewable power for 200 million cars would be $500 billion, he estimates, which means half a century of clean-conscience driving for the cost of one year's imported crude. It's certainly a catchy pitch. For now the Chinese are making the running, banning petrol motorbikes from several cities. Perhaps that will catch on quicker, though a plan to slap higher charges on the most polluting cars in London seems to have died before coming to life. A consortium of lobbyists led by Porsche has succeeded in getting the proposal quashed.

Since most of the EVs in cities are still low-speed "neighbourhood" cars, wouldn't it make more sense to use the torque power of electric motors to drive trucks? Emissions from surface transport are up to a quarter of the Western world's total, and much of that's down to road haulage. The problem, as ever, is one of batteries: the weight and volume required for freight transport would be prohibitive, as well as uneconomic, though as prices drop in the coming years this ought to change. There is a growing market for mid-sized trucks, produced by Modec and Smith Electric in the UK, although the latter seems to have run into difficulties. The shares of its parent, Tanfield Group, lost 97 percent of their value the other week. A drop-off in orders caused the company to shelve plans for a dedicated EV factory and expansion into the United States. "The enquiry level and the number of new customers initiating trials are buoyant," a spokesman said. "However we anticipate that due to the economic climate and the trading conditions our customers are experiencing, it will take longer for these trials to convert into volume orders."

The final frontier to broach is the racetrack. After back-to-back wins for diesel-powered Audis at Le Mans, there's talk of a diesel hybrid entering the 24-hour race soon. But what about an all-electric model? Once again it's a battery issue, though if Shai Agassi's "pit-stop" plan can work, it ought to be replicable with expert crews. Despite the Tesla's zip, Glyn Owen says his company's got nothing on its mind right now except getting its Roadster to buyers. After all the hold-ups and in-fighting, the popular "Truth About Cars" blog is already 11 posts into a series called "Tesla Death Watch". Its latest goes straight for the jugular: "The fact that Tesla Chairman Elon Musk owns a solar power and space launch company is, at least potentially, a perfect trifecta," it says, linking to a Newsweek story full of "co- and tri-branded crap" about power for cars that aren't being made yet. "When Musk finally announces that Space X will be launching solar panels into orbit to beam juice to a million gen3 EVs," bitches the author, "he'll square the circle." Until then, it's all just another trip "in Tesla's spinning teacups."

Hence Owen's reticence about gearing up for racing, which is a shame, because the Roadster's like a rollercoaster with stabilisers, even in its abortive twin-speed version. That ships locked in top gear, and starved of torque (though all seven of the people who own one can trade them in for single-speed models when they finally leave the factory), but it still shifts fast enough to mess up your face, even if you don't prang a passing farmhand. Round Norfolk's rolling lanes, I'm far too terrified to let rip towards its top speed, although there are some whippy overtaking manoeuvres that get Owen clutching his doorhandle. Braving the A11, we're hampered by the sudden appearance of a police car, which gets me easing off excessively on the gas, still marvelling that we're in the same gear I used to ease around the car park. It's like having a dimmer switch instead of an accelerator. The rev counter's utterly superfluous though. First, I defy anyone to red-line it. And, more importantly, it just mirrors the speedometer, which by now has caught Owen's attention. "Step on it a bit," he urges. "You've got a lorry trying to pass you."

"In the real world," mused Jay Leno, after his own trip in Tesla's "proper sports car", "most of the fun is between 40 and 80 mph, which is where you put your foot on it." I try that again, and feel like a schoolboy strapped to a bomb. Fast cars really aren't my thing, though I drive slow ones like a homicidal maniac. Still, I'm inclined to agree with Leno: "The Tesla shows sports cars can be electrifying. The sports car needn't die once oil runs out." To my amazement he even goes further. "If you dropped somebody in from another planet and said, this one with the petrol engine or this one with an electric motor, well, they'd probably say the Tesla." In which case, why isn't he saying so on Top Gear, giving Clarkson what for and his Russian fans serious eye candy? Perhaps that will soon be upon us.

The shifts in the past couple of years have been seismic. Though both Tesla and the Volt have hogged the headlines, there are many, many others doing similar things. Subaru, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW, Think, Tesla, and a dozen or so smaller start-ups are all launching all-electric vehicles in the next 12 to 48 months. Some of those also plan plug-in hybrids, and in VW's case the German state might also get closely involved. But for all the recent buzz, EV's still don't get much traction with proper petrolheads. Lewis Hamilton says he'd drive an electric car, "but I don't feel I particularly need to go out and buy one." As for winning an electric Grand Prix, you've got to be joking. "Motor racing is all about the sound, all about the noise, all about the smell of the fuel – all about the whole atmosphere," Hamilton says. "If you have electric cars you won't even have no atmosphere."

So where does this leave us? In the midst of a paradigm shift, says Bill Moore, whose editorship of EVWorld has taken him from fringe crank status to mainstream auto industry consultancy. "For the next 20 years," he concludes, "EVs are going to still be expensive things that only the rich can afford," though he hopes to see people prove him wrong. In the meantime, the average driver's habits will have to change, using scooters for errands instead of cars, and bicycles or legs for shorter trips. "Then one day," Moore predicts, "someone will blow the whole thing wide open by inventing the equivalent of the Model T."

This time round, that's less likely to be a vehicle than a pricing plan, a charging network or the battery that changes what's possible, even if it can't deliver 1.21 gigawatts of time travel.

END STORY




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苫小牧の3灯台をLEDに/ 太陽光を灯台内のバッテリーに蓄え、夜間点灯させる


http://www.tomamin.co.jp/2008/tp080823.htm
 第1管区海上保安本部は、苫小牧西港にある灯台3基を太陽光発電にし、LED(発光ダイオード)に変える。1管本部は「自然エネルギーを使うことで二酸化炭素(CO2)を削減でき、自家発電なので災害にも強くなる」と話している。太陽光発電とLEDを活用するのは、苫小牧港漁港区南防波堤灯台と西防波堤灯台、東外防波堤灯台。太陽光を灯台内のバッテリーに蓄え、夜間点灯させる。台風や大雪などの悪天候で送電線が切れたり伸びたりするなど、送電に異常があった場合、これまでは予備バッテリーで対応。その間、職員らが復旧作業を行っていたが、自家発電にすることで送電線トラブルの影響を受けずに済むようになり、「災害に強くなる」という。自然エネルギーを使うことで、「CO2の削減にもつながり、環境にやさしい」とし、地球温暖化防止に貢献できる、とも。さらに、省電力でも点灯可能なLEDを光源にすることで、エネルギー消費量が少なくて済むようにした。工事は2008年中に行う予定。1管本部によると、年度内に道内約40灯台を太陽光発電に変えるという。


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ヒーロー・エレクトリック社が5年以内に電気自動車に進出


http://jp.ibtimes.com/article/biznews/080822/22284.html
http://www.voiceofindia.co.jp/content/view/1623/74/ 
【ニューデリー】二輪車メーカー、ヒーロー・エレクトリックが2013年までにインドに電気自動車を導入する計画であることが分かった。電気自動車以外にも電池で動く三輪自動車の導入も計画しているという。ヒーロー・エレクトリックは、2008年度中に太陽エネルギー電池型の高速電気二輪車2モデルを導入し、製品ラインアップの強化を計画中だ。ヒーロー社のギルCEOはPTIの取材に対して「ヒーロー社は毎日環境問題について考えている。電気自動車・二輪車でトップ企業になるという目標のため、今まで研究に投資してきた。今後5年で電気3輪車・4輪車を開始していく」と答えた。ヒーローエレクトロニック社は2008年度に研究開発などに8億ルピー(約20億1600億円)投資している。ギルCEOは「ヒーロー社は研究を積み重ね、現在すでにモデルの原型を作り上げている」とアピールした。ギルCEOはさらに「今までの電池式乗用車は走行コストが高かった。現在我々は、すぐに充電できかつ長時間走行可能な電池を開発している」、「三輪自動車は、限られた積載量での限定版になるだろう。三輪自動車も四輪自動車も現在の工場で生産される」と語った。ヒーローエレクトロニック社は、電気自動車の技術を得るのに海外企業の買収を検討している。また同社は、英ウルトラ・モータズ社との提携を終わらせ、2008年度中の電気自動車の製品開発を計画中だという。


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2008/08/22

Intel increases consumer-product power consumption 50%


http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=blog&blog_id=1700000170&blog_post_id=80032008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
That’s not the way they spin it of course. They are using the highly dubious magnetic field coupling that the MIT guy claims is an invention. Only the near-field at high frequencies is pretty closer than a few feet, so I have to believe this is bathing the world with RF, just what we need when wireless gizmos have a hard enough time working.

This is almost criminal in a world where we need to conserve every single watt. Leave it to the digital guys to ruin it for everyone. Yeah, I know, they will claim they can fix it in software. What’s not to like about a system that is 50% efficient on top of the ac-dc conversion, and pumps RF energy all over the place? Can you see why the digital jockeys at Intel also think they can use the guard bands between TV stations to broadcast data?

And note how the always-clueless mass media reporter confuses the use of super capacitors with this technology—they are completely orthogonal decisions, what the heck does a super-capacitor storage system have to do with wireless charging?


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