isaac the terrible

Battery Investing for Beginners, Part 3

Nice Job John, thank you much.

Battery Investing for Beginners, Part 2

Sorry- "do",not "due"

Battery Investing for Beginners, Part 2

John,
I don't know if you've covered this before, but it would be interesting to know what the relative $/ Kwh/ weight is for the various technologies. Also, due you have a sense of the relative potential market for various sectors of storage- light transporation / heavy transport/ grid support?
Thanks, Isaac

Auto Batteries: Short Term Revenue Growth Favors Lead-Acid by 6 to 1

Hi John,
'I know very few people that can perform a net present value analysis. I know even fewer who go looking for a new car with the idea that they're going to drive it for five to eight years.'

I think that liqiud fuel is going to get real expensive quicker than we could hope, and 5$ gallon here in the USA will be the new base within 2-3 yrs. If that comes to be, people will have less money for others purchases and vehicles will be held for atleast a dozen years, and people will stock up on duct tape.

And that also means that people will want to buy the lowest cost battery technology that gets the job done- seems like Pb based systems for the bulk of it.

Thanks, and when is the EB&T etf coming out?

How Growing HEV Markets Will Impact Battery Manufacturing Revenues

John,
Any idea if there are auto manufacturers currently using lead-acid batteries, or have plans to, for mild hybrids? If so, which battery companies are their suppliers?
Thanks

Li-ion Battery Technologies: Understanding Their Development Path

John,
When are you, Charles and Tom K. going to put together an index that an ETF can be based on- that would be an Energy ST & E. That would stand for Energy Storage, Transmission and Efficiency. I'm thinking a one stop shop for the likes of American Superconductor, Itron, Exide, Echelon, SQM, Quanta, Johnson Controls, etc (and yes even some Axion). Sign me up.
And yes, that inactive tool for energy you referenced on Leebs article is very suprising.
Thanks, Isaac

The Obama Fast Track for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs)

You're analysis assumes that over the next 10 yrs, oil will be plentiful and inexpensive (less than 4$/gallon or so).
It is very possible, or even likely, that oil will be increasingly scarse and expensive starting in a couple years. Once gasoline is in the 5-10$gallon range, electricity will be a much more economical way to pull off a 30 mile drive, and the economics of per mile vehicle cost over the life of the vehicle changes big time.
John, it would be interesting to develop a chart that compares the cost of driving 100,000 miles with gasoline and electricity costs as the variables, for both a full HEV and for a plug-in HEV using your cost fiqures.
Either way, batteries and drivetrains with integrated ultracapacitors have a very bright future. Hopefully, debt ridden America will be able to afford these new technologies.

Lead Acid Batteries: How Cheap Beat Cool at Google

Good article John. Its clarity and brevity is welcome.
Any updates on the stimulus grants regarding battery developers?
Any thoughts on rare earth metal suppliers for NiMHy batteries, such as Lynas?
Thanks

Long Live the Cleantech Revolution

Any suggestions about learning more about the state of Zebra battery developement?, who are the players in that segment?
Thanks

DOE Report: Lithium-ion Batteries Are Not Ready for Prime Time

Excellent points Renzo. For those who do believe that 1) there is a problem with supply of cheap fossil fuels, and 2) there is a serious possibility that global warming linked to human fossil fuel use will become an increasingly apparent reality-
it would be hard to be opposed to nuclear energy as a strong component of domestic energy supply. For the possibilities, check out hyperion
www.hyperionpowergener.../
On the other hand, my wife and I have 2 cars, and we would like to replace our "commuter" car in the next couple years. A plug-in hybrid NG car with a 10-yr life battery pack and a 40 mile all electric range would definately fit the bill. We'll keep our SUV for hauling big stuff and bad weather.

Smart Grid's Enabler - Alternative Energy Storage

Fitz,
I believe its alot more energy efficient (and thus cheaper) to send remotely produced electricity to battery banks that are close to the end users via transmission lines, as opposed to physically transporting the batteries- since they are heavy. I'd like to have abanl of PbC batteries right across from my NG filling port in my garage, with my plug-in NG Ford ultracapactor SUV in between.

John,
Do you think that the PbC technolgy is something that other companies can easily reproduce on their own, if axions work proves viable on a large scale?
Thanks.

Lead-Acid, Lead-Carbon Batteries: The Only Option for Average Consumer

You may be right about the batteries, however the hybrid divetrain has an aweful lot of promise, and is at a very young stage of development. Check out AFS Trinity to get a look at what lies ahead.
www.afstrinity.com/ind...
They've integrated ultracapacitors with lithium batteries and a sophisticated control package, and are looking at strong results. Sure they may end up shifting to PB-C batteries, and hopefully offering a NG version. I'm watching them with great interest.

Alternative Energy Storage for Global Warming Agnostics

Note on global warming (GW) from a scientist-
the phenomena of greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere is undisputable- its just a measurement, and the link with the release of CO2 from fossil fuel burning in the past 1-200 years is obvious.
There is a possibilty that we will not see warming because of bigger trends in the atmosphere that we do not understand, but the likelihood of that is very, very small and we would be fools to bank on that.
By the time we have global warming to the degree that the average person opens their eyes wide enough to notice, it will have reached catastrophic proportions for perhaps a billion people, and close to that for another 3 billion. I know its easier to ignore scientists, and think that the globe is flat, that bacteria don't cause disease, and that the whole world revolves around yourselves, but those things just arn't so.
Respectfully.

Alternative Energy Storage: Lithium, Lead or Both?

John, I find your opinions about the battery industry to be very useful, especially in that they are based on some experience in the industry and real-life numbers rather than just pie in the sky speculation.
Since many companies, who are devising new powertrains and energy storage packages, are including ultracapacitiors in their plans, I offer the suggestion that you study this topic. This would roundout your expertise, and would be very helpful to those of us who are interested in investing in this sector.
My limited understanding is that UC's would be used as an adjunct to the batteries and the small motor/generator, in order to provide rapid bursts of power needed for acceleration in a more efficient manner than drawing on batteries. This may allow a smaller battery bank.
Respectfully submitted.

Energy Storage Opportunities After the Market Carnage

Thanks for the update John. Its good to have a solid perspective from someone who has practical expertise in this segment, a segment that I wholeheartedly agree is a critical one that will draw alopt of investment dollars over the next decade.
Do you any thoughts on the suppliers of raw materials to this sector, like SQM for lithuim, LYN for rare earths, or others?