Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Eestor

The company Eestor claims to have developed a high voltage storage ultracapaciter. This is an ultracap that replaces a battery system in a vehicle. It is planned/claimed to have a greater power density than lithium, faster charge than all other systems and its cheaper than lithium. The US Department Of Energy has launched a competition that Eestor is almost guaranteed to win assuming Eestor is not lieing about its capabilities.

http://theeestory.com/topics/1474

The main discussion of Eestor is at:
http://bariumtitanate.blogspot.com/

Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eestor

If the company delivers its a huge story and a massive break through.
If they fail it will still be a big story.
Note: George Bush et al knew of this technology, Colin Powell, is an adviser to one of the investors.

Detroit knew of this technology which is why the US car industry was/is behaving strangely. Your not going to sink money into green cars using other technology while this kind of game changing break through is emerging. If ford sinks to much money into lithium or even ethanol and Eestor comes to the party then Ford looses all the R & D money spent. Billions. GM and Chrysler are in the same boat and so was Bush for that matter.
The seeming paralysis in the US is really quite sensible.

If Eestor can deliver on its claim it will be significant. Electric cars with 300 km range, hybrids with incredible fuel efficiencies, solar cars with good short haul ranges. It can also change trucks and trains improving the power to weight ratio making hybrid freight transport cheap. Electrical energy storage units EESU under the tray of a truck or stacked behind the cab with electric drive in each wheel or axle. Hybrid boats are already being built an EESU could make both hybrid and solar boats viable and common. The impact on submarines will be immense. Even hybrid air craft and drones become possible.
Stationary applications such as grid buffering, white goods with EESU buffering and car to grid would all be possible and cheap. Even if the EESU turns out to be not as bullet proof as they expect and can't be used in a moving vehicle the stationary applications will matter.
Lockheed-Martin is designing several kinds of energy storage unit for the army including a unit that fits in the back of a bullet proof vest and forms the back armour unit. Real bullet proof batteries. Most people don't know that we have powered exoskeletons, first generation battle field energy weapons -- lasers and stunners -- and combat robots. These are all waiting for an adequate power-source, an EESU or the smaller Lockheed-Martin units will revolutionize warfare.

I suspect that the arguments from the sceptics are just examples of an "I can't do it therefor it can't be done". An inadequate unimaginative response to design problems. Goddard and Von Braun's opponents used that one all the time in 1920-30 response to their rocketry claims.
The main criticism is that the EESU should heat up catastrophically on charging. Even I can see how to fix that problem; Chill while charging: build a fridge in the car to hold the EESU.

The big three car companies

GM and Chrysler and perhaps also Ford are facing bankruptcy. The bailouts aren't and wont work. Dysfunctional companies go bankrupt.

Bankruptcy is not as bad as it seems. The skilled labor will be rehired by the new green car companies waiting in the wings, mostly California and Florida. The dozens of small EV and hybrid companies are at the point where they need to expand out of their converted warehouses and into proper factories so the big three's factories will be quickly acquired ant foreclosure. One reason why the three are being kept on life support is that they do defense contracts. However the vehicles they make are now obsolete. They can't do Hybrid biofuelled tanks, trucks or indestructible hummers. Others have demonstrated the capacity to do so. Defense will shift towards these new players. One company in Florida makes an armored bus. It floats, it can take an IED and when hit with a car bomb in Baghdad traffic it survived. Everyone walked out. http://www.gizmag.com/go/4178/ As we move to robotic warfare these Rhino runners will become the command vehicle of choice. Detroit can't compete with that -- its been losing defense contracts for years now.

It also wont cooperate with some of the new players like the new EV car people, the universities and companies with new power plants. http://www.cyclonepower.com/index.html and http://www.angellabsllc.com/index.html
Detroit is doomed, these men will end up owning the factories.

However the names may survive. The names Ford, GM, And Chrysler may be sold off with a little surviving 'goodwill' to either the new players or their own design and testing facilities which are already doing a little external work to make the pay.

Check my Eestor post for another reason why the big three wont go green. Eestor may have them beaten already and they know it.