bobbobwhite

Lithium-Ion Batteries and Centerfolds: The Final Chapter

The electricity storage battery was invented in 1800, yes, right at the start of the industrial revolution, but has achieved the lowest increase in technological improvement of any energy-related R&D. For example, to date, the size of storage batteries required for even the small needs of a tiny car requires a much larger space for the batteries than does the gas engine the batteries replaced, not even counting the space required for the electric motor needed. That will never work if we cannot store massively more power in a much smaller space, which to date has been relatively unsolved. Imagine how large any type of "modern" battery would have to be to hold the electricity to power an entire city! Probably nearly the size of the city itself. It is my strong belief that the entire concept of massive electricity storage in batteries as we know them now will prove to be physically and financially unsolvable, thus other ways to perform the function must get the lion's share of this area's R&D in the future.

Yes, I do not believe that storage battery tech will ever be any significant portion of the world electricity storage solution, as all modern evidence appears to favor self contained energy production devices, e.g., fuel cells, of various forms and sizes to replace the heretofore 208-year unsolvable conundrum of storing massive amounts of electricity in a battery. It will then be a produce-it-as-you-need... solution instead of a use-it-as-you-need-it one that we are now wasting our time researching. That new research is where I would now put my investment dollar, and am doing so.