Embedded electronic implants have long been confined to the realm of science fiction, but the development of a new stretchable battery could soon make them a reality. A pair of scientists have developed a new type of lithium-ion battery that can stretch up to three times its original length and can be recharged wirelessly. The new battery, which is being developed by Northwestern University’s Yonggang Huang and the University of Illinois’ John A. Rogers, could signal a major breakthrough for electronics that can be implanted in the human body, like bionic eyes and heart monitors.

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Post tags: batteries, bionic eye, bionic implants, electronic implant, flexible batteries, green technology, John A. Rogers, lithium-ion batteries, Northwestern University, stretchable battery, university of illinois, wearable technology, wirelessly charged batteries, Yonggang Huang

Image: High-speed commuter train via Shutterstock

In Europe, approximately half of the continent’s trains are electric. However, a new regenerative braking system developed by Tognum daughter MTU could soon see all rail vehicles as hybrids. The system is being trialled in Germany where the world’s first hybrid train now runs between Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg. As the 37 km long route has 14 stops, it is very easy for the braking system to recharge the train’s batteries with power. If the system proves to be a success, it is then hoped that all the trains, whether they run on diesel or electric motors, will become hybrids.

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Post tags: batteries, electric trains, green energy, hybrid trains, hybrid vehicles, power packs, rail vehicles, regenerative braking, Siemens Desiro Classic VT 642 locomotive, Tognum Daughter MTU, world's first hybrid train

Critics of wind power all like to point out the same problem with turbine technology: “What happens when the wind doesn’t blow”? Apple, usually a maker of products that consume energy, recently filed for a patent that may answer that question once and for all. The tech giant’s latest patent details a wind turbine that generates electricity from heat energy rather than rotational energy created by the rotation of the unit’s blades. According to the patent, this could allow wind energy to be stored in a “low-heat capacity fluid” which could then be tapped on an as-needed basis, i.e. whenever the wind dies down.

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Post tags: "wind power", alternative energy, apple, batteries, energy storage, invention, patent, renewable energy, wind energy, wind turbines

Today’s electric vehicles may have much lower carbon footprints than gasoline and diesel powered cars, but the two hours it can often take to charge a lithium ion battery can be a significant inconvenience. In an effort to reduce such charging times a group of South Korean scientists has reportedly developed a carbon battery capable of charging up to 120 times faster than standard batteries.

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Post tags: batteries, battery technology, electric car, electric cars, electric charging, ford focus electric, green car, green transportation, honda fit ev, lithium ion battery, Nissan Leaf

Researchers from the Poznan University of Technology in Poland and the Linkoping University in Sweden have been whittling away at the possibilities of creating energy from wood waste. The key ingredient in this new technology is lignin, a chemical compound of waste produced in the paper-making process. Scientist are using the lignin as an insulator and polypyrrole as a conductor to create and hold an electric charge. Wood is of course a renewable resource, and it’s much more readily available than the chemicals used in traditional batteries. While the technology is still in research phases, we could see the use of wooden batteries in our lifetime as we continue to utilize our natural resources for renewable fuel and energy!

Via fastcoexist

Image © duchamp

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Post tags: batteries, battery research, eco batteries, eco research, eco science, Green Batteries, green research, green resources, green science, lignin, natural resources, renewable energy, renewable resources, research, science, sustainable batteries, sustainable research, sustainable science, Wood, wood batteries, wood energy, wood waste, wooden batteries, wooden resources

A team of researchers at Harvard University has created a novel hydrogen fuel cell that keeps running even after its fuel supply is exhausted. The solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) converts hydrogen into electricity, and it can also store electrochemical energy like a battery. This allows the fuel cell to produce power for a short time after it has run out of hydrogen.

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Post tags: alternative energy, batteries, fuel, harvard university, hydrogen fuel cell, power source, solid oxide fuel cells, uavs

Engineers at Stanford University appear to have come up with a way to make solar cells and batteries more efficient by “decorating” nanowires with chains of nanoparticles. The process has been likened to dressing up the nanowires with jewelry, a step which helps to enhance their catalytic and electrical performance. The process is simpler and faster than previous techniques, and the development could lead to better lithium-ion batteries and more efficient solar cells, according to a study published in the journal Nano Letters.

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Post tags: batteries, bejeweled nanowires, green technology, lithium-ion batteries, nanoparticles, nanotechnology, nanowires, solar, Solar cells, stanford, stanford university, tech

Early last year we reported on the unveiling of Evatran’s Plugless Power – the world’s first wireless EV charger. Now – just in time for the new year – we’re happy to say that Evatran has launched its online reservation system, and to top things off they’re offering a $150 rebate card for up to 6 months of free electricity.

Read the rest of Evatran Now Accepting Pre-Orders for Plugless Power Wireless EV Charging System

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", batteries, car chargers, chargers, electric vehicle chargers, electric vehicles, ev chargers, evatran, evatran plugless power, in home ev chargers, plugless power, sustainable design, wireless electric vehicle charger, wireless ev charger

If you’ve ever owned a laptop or a netbook, you know that their batteries come with a finite lifespan. But what about a longer lasting alternative to powering up your computer? Fuel cells, namely hydrogen fuel cells, not only boast a longer useful life, but they are also capable of running for weeks without requiring a recharge. Not surprisingly, it is reported that Apple is looking into using this technology, recently filing two patents incorporating the cells.

Read the rest of Apple Files Patent for MacBooks Powered by Fuel Cells

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Post tags: apple batteries, apple devices, apple fuel cells, apple inc., batteries, electronics, fuel cells, fuel cells efficiency, gadgets, hydrogen fuel cells, portable devices

The problem with many electronics is that they have a shelf life of a few years (depending on how long the parts can hold up), but now a team from the University of Illinois has developed an electronic circuit that can actually self-heal when its metal wires break.  The researchers claim the new system is able to restore conductivity within “mere microseconds”, meaning that should your TV break while you are watching it, it’ll fix itself without you even knowing anything was wrong. While the technology is still a work in progress, the team believes their method will even work with complex systems like multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs).

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Post tags: batteries, Chips, Components, gallium-indium liquid metal alloy, Hardware, micro-capsules, Printed Circuit Board, science, self fixing electronics, self healing electronics, university of illinois

The University of California Riverside has one very dedicated alum who puts our measly $50 annual donations to our alma maters to shame. Winston Chung, founder and CEO of Chinese energy heavyweight Winston Global Energy recently gave the college more than $2 million worth of rare earth lithium-ion batteries equalling 1.1 megawatts of power and measuring the length of an entire 164 foot olympic sized pool! The school will use the batteries initially to power the first floor of their engineering building but the plan is to eventually expand their use to allow the building to generate all of its own juice, moving it off the power grid entirely in the near future.

Read the rest of University of California Riverside Gets an Olympic Pool-Sized Battery to Power Its Engineering Building

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Post tags: alternative energy, batteries, battery, battery energy, battery powered school, renewable energy, school of engineering batteries, uc riverside, university of california riverside, winston chung, winston chung donation, winston global energy, winston global energy donation

Range anxiety is one of the biggest hurdles facing electric cars today. For electric vehicles to truly become mainstream, batteries will have to provide a longer range and become much cheaper. Now, researchers from South Korea have developed an advanced lithium-ion battery that has a high energy content and rate capacity — making electric cars even more competitive than their gas-powered counterparts.

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Post tags: batteries, electric batteries, electric car, electric car batteries, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, lithium ion battery, lithium-ion electric car batteries, plug-in vehicles, range anxiety

Since its release last December the Chevy Volt has proven to be extremely popular — it’s been crowned the 2011 Green Car of the Year, the North American Car of the Year and its sales eclipsed those of the Nissan Leaf. However it is set to become even more appealing as GE announced it is working on a new generation of batteries with double the energy-storage capacity. GM’s licensed battery-electrode materials developed at Argonne National Laboratory (a U.S. Department of Energy lab) use mixed-metal oxides that not only increase storage capacity, but improve the safety and durability of car batteries.

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Post tags: batteries, chevy volt, chevy volt battery life, CHevy volt lithium ion battery, electric cars, GM, green materials, LG Chem, lithium ion battery, mixed metal oxide

A team of researchers from Rice University and Lockheed Martin have found that silicon nanopores (micron-sized pores on top of silicon wafers) can increase lithium-ion battery capacity by 10 times. Since silicon has the highest theoretical capacity for storing lithium of any material, the discovery could lead to super-long lasting batteries.

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Post tags: batteries, battery power, li-ion, lithium ion, lithium-ion batteries, silicon nanopores

It’s finally happened: Now even paper can be “smart,” with the help of new paper-based lithium-ion batteries developed by Stanford materials scientists. The bendable batteries could power electronic newspapers and support other developments in “paper” electronics, and they could even provide smart packaging — so those grubby marketers can know even more about you. The batteries are a mere 300 microns thick and they are recyclable to boot.

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Post tags: batteries, green materials, lithium-ion batteries, nanotechnology, New Materials, Paper, stanford university

Soon enough, your home electrical wiring could do more than just keep electronics running–it could also act as a giant information-transmitting antenna. Researchers at the University of Washington and the Georgia Institute of Technology have leveraged electrical wiring to power wireless sensors able to keep track of a building’s temperature, light level humidity, air quality–essentially any quantifiable building function. With help from the wiring, these sensors could run for decades on a single watch battery, meaning they could even be placed in hard-to-reach areas around the home.


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Post tags: "energy efficiency", antenna, batteries, sensor, snupi, university of washington

In today’s age of wireless technology, the plug-in electric vehicle is both revolutionary and kind of a throw-back to wired technologies of times past. Fear not — wireless charging for your gas-free vehicle is on the way. The Virginia company Evatran recently unveiled a wireless EV charger at this week’s Plug In conference in San Jose.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", batteries, chargers, electric vehicles, evatran, plugless power, sustainable design

Potatoes are good for more than just filling up your stomach on the quick; they’re also potential sources of electricity, according to Yissum Research Development Company Ltd. The company, which is an arm of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has developed a “solid organic electric battery based upon treated potatoes” that is five to fifty times cheaper than commercial 1.5 volt D cells and Energizer e91 cell batteries. The light generated from the potato battery is also at least 6 times more economical than kerosene lamps.

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Post tags: batteries, Electricity, food, green design, potato battery, potatoes, renewable energy, sustainable design

Ever dream of owning a palm-sized fuel cell to juice up your electronic devices on the go? Here’s your chance — Horizon just announced that it has started shipping a “disruptive pocket-size fuel cell power plant” — and it only costs $100 for a unit with two refillable fuel cartridges, each containing the same amount of energy as 1,000 disposable AA batteries.

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Post tags: batteries, battery power, fuel cell, green design, horizon minipak

Better Place is set to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry with their innovative plan for EV infrastructure — and now they’re putting their money where their mouth is by testing a brand new battery switching station in Tokyo. The first real-world facility of its kind will swap spent car batteries for fresh ones, helping to perfect the system in order to develop more efficient prototypes. Better Place is working with a pilot-program fleet of three cabs to stress test the facility, which can swap an EV’s spent battery for a full one in less than a minute!

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Post tags: alternative transporation, batteries, battery swapping test, better place, eco design, electric vehicles, green design, green transportation, pilot program, shai agassi, Tokyo