

Zinc-air battery could hold 3x more energy than lithium-ion - MikeCapone
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23812/

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ryanwaggoner
_If the technology can be scaled up..._

And there it is. Call me when it's more than a press release.

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MikeCapone
Nobody's pretending that it's on the market. It's very obviously an article
about something that is in the lab. No need to be cynical.

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ryanwaggoner
Sorry, but I am cynical. The ratio of press-release-about-amazing-new-
technology to commercial-availability-of-amazing-new-technology seems to be
about 100 to 1. Whatever happened to under-promise and over-deliver?

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dbz
You are well within your rights. I read a thousand articles about new
technology ranging from graphite that is a super conductor to this. I haven't
seen most of the technology I have read about and would appreciate reading
about something coming out....Next year?

But then again- if it is coming out next year, it is conceivable that I would
have already heard about it.

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Retric
Sorry, _Zinc air batteries are already used in hearing aids_ because they take
up less space, but they don't reduce weight.

 _Zinc is far heavier than lithium, and delivers far fewer watts per pound not
ideal for a car._ or a laptop.
<http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/2328>

    
    
      Periodic Table of the Elements:
      Lithium: Li 3
      Zinc: Zn 30
    

PS: They cost less and have high volume efficiency so it might be useful for
UPC's and other grid connected storage applications. But, they are not going
to be as cheap as lead acid any time soon.

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arvinjoar
If this works, and it is cost-efficient, as is claimed, it's fucking epic!

I had a really good idea for a gadget, but it all fell apart because of the
limitations on power storage, now my idea might actually be realistic. The
person who starts selling this will not only make himself rich, but all the
people who figure out new applcations for it will also have a chance to get
rich.

I mean, it's obvious that laptops are going to get more awesome because of
this, but think of all the things that didn't exist just because of power
storage limitations!

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chrischen
Also if the capacity doesn't degrade as much as Li-Ion that would be great.
Otherwise I'd hold my breath for those nuclear batteries.

~~~
electromagnetic
Bah, waiting's for losers. Just steal a small RTG and rig a wireless charger
to yourself, you'll never need to charge an appliance again, plus you can
power your hybrid on the go . . . just stay away from any FBI agents, just in
case.

~~~
chrischen
I'd like to be able to keep one in my pants.

But wait, aren't they used in pacemakers??? So why aren't they commercially
available now?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_gen...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator#History)

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sdp
Of course, once they start making laptops with these, the TSA will ban them.

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mtrimpe
And it's a lot lighter too! Except I heard about this over three years ago
already.

