

A New Battery That Charges In Seconds - keltecp11
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090311/full/news.2009.156.html

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robakun
they found a faster way of charging a supposedly slowly charging material
(namely FePO4), not that they found a fast way of charging a already fastly
charging material (e.g. CoO2). So no revolution here, MIT's guys are good at
regularly releasing some baits for new funds.

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qaexl
Hopefully, the "fast" discharge does not mean explosive discharge.

I was kicking around an idea of currency based directly on energy units with
friends for a while. There were two requirements, though. One was some sort of
battery or capacitor technology that can hold a charge for very long period of
time (as long as cash currency typically survives) and and the other is the
ability to quickly transfer energy from one unit to another (fast
charge/discharge rates).

If this tech is commercialized, that would be one half of the conditions
necessary for trading monetary value directly through the transfer of energy.

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mhb
Isn't that what energy futures markets effectively do?

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qaexl
I'm talking about a replacement for cash currency.

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mhb
I know. And I don't understand why. Cash currency is fungible with energy via
futures markets or even just buying and selling batteries or water at
different elevations.

Why would using some inconvenient physical mechanism be better than just
mentally converting your transactions into the spot price of whatever type of
energy interests you?

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markessien
If this actually works, it would really change the world. Think of trucks with
huge batteries that charge them in some central electricity center (next to a
dam or so), then drive to far off villages to provide them electricity for
weeks. There would be no need for cables any longer, one can transport
electricity by train.

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DTrejo
This would make electric cars even more viable and practical.

I can't wait to see the unexpected ways this will change my life. Any ideas?

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nazgulnarsil
i wonder if they've done even preliminary tests on how this affects battery
life and how long a charge is held.

