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Five Energy Technologies with big potential
- envitar 17y agoRE: Five Technologies That Could Change Everything Monday, October 19, 2009 7:09 PM From: "Totty, Michael" <Michael.Totty@wsj.com> To: envitar Sir, Thanks for your note. Space limitations prevented me from mentioning Tesla, which indeed gets considerably more miles on a charge than a Volt. As I understand it, it does this by using some sophisticated electronic controls and a huge array of batteries, both of which help account for the Tesla roadster’s steep price tag. The point I should have made more clearly is that, when cost and weight are considered, lithium-ion batteries in production vehicles are going to continue have a much smaller range than comparable gasoline-powered vehicles. Not to suggest that makes them impractical – some 80% of all car trips are less than the Volt’s 40 mile range. But the grail remains something with even a higher power density than lithium ion. You’re also correct about flywheels – they’re useful for a number of critical grid applications, mainly in maintaining power during brief outages. Most of the experts I talked with, though, didn’t include them as a solution for larger storage needs, or to handle storage for variable power sources like wind. Still, there’s a lot of interest in flywheels, and they probably merit a closer look in the reports. I appreciate your writing. Best regards, Michael Michael Totty News editor/Journal Reports The Wall Street Journal