Disgusting...
Lithium: invest in new oil
By Pierre Tenaud, June 15, 2009, Pierre Tenaud
Is lithium on its way to becoming the new oil? This soft metal is used more and more. Like black gold, which has established itself as an essential source of energy, lithium adapts particularly well to our consumption patterns.
All the interest of this mineral comes from its electrical capacities. These are increasingly exploited, in particular for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. This technology, which you may not have heard of, you certainly use it every day. Indeed, your mobile phone is equipped with it, just like your laptop. Mobile devices are flourishing, and lithium battery technology seems to be the best in terms of price and performance for the moment.
The lithium cell phone revolution is already behind us and there is nothing more to be learned from this call for air. For laptops, there is still significant room for improvement. Laptop use is not yet democratized and there is still quite a dizzying market potential. According to analyzes by specialist firm Gartner, 2009 should be a pivotal year for the laptop PC market. According to its estimates, sales of desktop computers are expected to decline by almost 32% in 2009, while, at the same time, the notebook PC market is expected to grow by 9%. In 2009, 155 million laptops will be sold, against 101 million "classic" PCs. Laptops and other netbooks would therefore become the most consumed.
From small battery to hybrid car battery
But the real lithium revolution could well be the announced advent of the hybrid vehicle. The era is no longer that of large polluting vehicles. Even Americans, usually fond of this kind of car, seem to be changing their ways. The surge in the price of a barrel last summer started a change in mentality.
In 2008, the Toyota Prius, the only hybrid model so far capable of establishing itself on the market, passed the milestone of one million units sold worldwide. A success that arouses envy. Little by little, all the manufacturers are entering the race, even the most reluctant at the start. Chevrolet, Chrysler, Nissan are all working on hybrid models.
In 2010, the offer of hybrid models should explode. Especially since the administration of Barack Obama is working so that American manufacturers reorient their production lines to move from monstrous 4x4s to the green vehicles of the future.
To power their future hybrid models, the vast majority of manufacturers have decided to opt for lithium technology rather than nickel. Until then, the Prius ran on a nickel battery. Lithium batteries are half the size for the same amount of energy. They are also more enduring. For William Tahill, of the Meridian Institute and author of a noted report, Troubles with lithium, "the chemical complexity, and therefore the cost of manufacture, is much higher than nickel".
But the researchers at MIT do not agree at all. A group of scientists from the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a lithium-based battery that recharges in seconds. In addition to the practical advantages that could be derived from this acceleration, one of the big weak points of the electric car.
Another team at MIT has opened up a new path. By using genetically modified viruses, she succeeded in further increasing the energy capacities of lithium-ion batteries, which would thus be multiplied by three.
All the major battery manufacturers have therefore embarked on the transition to lithium in an attempt to improve the still limited capacities of hybrid vehicles. Whether it is the supplier of Toyota, A123 Systems, the very powerful Japanese Hitachi Vehicle (which hopes to achieve a turnover of 800 million euros in 2015 only thanks to lithium batteries intended for the automobile), all have crossed the not. French company Saft, thanks to its joint venture with the world leader in batteries, Johnson Controls, is establishing itself as a serious benchmark in lithium batteries.
First published on 14/05/09 in issue 33 of MoneyWeek
Source: http://www.moneyweek.fr/conseils/00926/ ... bride.html
Here is some info on ultra fast charging battery
