[clug] IBM claims to have made a new battery design that is environment friendly

[Brenton Ross]

On Sun, 2020-01-19 at 10:08 +1100, George at Clug via linux wrote:
> 
> 
> Has anyone heard any positive news about Hydrogen Fuel Cells
> recently?    
> https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/01/09/hydrogen-on-the-rise-at-ces-from-drones-and-daimler-trucks-to-toyotas-city-of-the-future/
> 
> https://reneweconomy.com.au/category/smart-transport/hydrogen-fuel-cell/
> 
> https://www.shell.com.au/make-the-future/cleaner-mobility/the-great-travel-hack/season-one/fuels-vehicles.html
> 
> 
> 
> I keep hearing how "one day" it will be the way forward. 
> 
> I guess Hydrogen Fuel Cells are not going to help rovers and drones
> get around on Mars though, "The estimated mean volume ratio of
> molecular oxygen (O2) in the Martian atmosphere is 0.174%" 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars
> 
> 
A few news items I have seen that might be significant:

An ammonia fuel cell: 
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-ammonia-fuel-cells.html

That would simplify a lot of the distribution and storage issues that
seem to plague H2.

A high efficiency electrolysis cell:
https://www.ammoniaenergy.org/articles/israeli-group-develops-new-electrolysis-technology/

A conversion efficiency of 98.7% is pretty impressive.

Carbon Nanotube Flywheels:
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/10/cnt-bundle-material-for-flywheels-40-times-better-than-batteries.html

I like 50KWhr/Kgm !  That would make electric aircraft possible.

Autonomous charging robots:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lianeyvkoff/2020/12/30/vws-robots-and-battery-wagons-could-turn-every-garage-parking-space-into-an-ev-charging-station/

Solves the problem of having to queue for hours to get a turn at the
charger.

My guess is that we will end up developing a hydrogen/ammonia economy
as that will allow us to be a major energy exporter. This will make it
practical for things like long haul trucks, railway locomotives and
ships to use fuel cell technology.

However, battery electric cars have got a bit of a head start over the
other technologies, so it will take something like the flywheel
technology to break their grip on the market.

Brenton

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