Ever increasing mobility is a consistent trend in technology. Mobile devices all rely on rechargeable batteries for their wireless/cordless use. Cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, and camcorders are some of the more popular electronic devices we carry around today. At home and in the office, we use remote controls, wireless keyboards, wireless mice, wireless game controllers and cordless phones. The Achilles heel of all these devices is their power systems. Today’s batteries have many issues. What if there were better ways of storing electrical energy? Would that positively affect Homo sapiens technologis?
Rechargeable batteries seem to take almost as long to charge as to discharge. Over time, these batteries lose their capacity to store energy. Eventually they have to be replaced. Many batteries contain toxic chemicals and should not be thrown out at the end of their lives but properly recycled.
Some of these devices have sealed batteries that are not user-replaceable. This idea is championed by Apple with its iPhones, iPods and with some of its portable computers. Might Apple seal their batteries into the devices in order to increase profits by incenting buyers to replace the entire device when the battery fails? Apple makes more money from selling a new iPhone then from selling a replacement battery.
Further compounding this inconvenience is the plethora of chargers and cables that come with these devices. It is the electrical version of the Tower of Babel. Why is this necessary? Why must every generation of mobile device and each model require a different charger and cable? Fortunately, many of the gadget manufactures are focusing on mini-USB connectors, but not Apple.
Help is on the way on the battery front. Two MIT researchers have developed an enhanced form of the lithium ion battery. It charges in about 1/20th of the time for existing batteries. The revised form of the lithium ion also has a much longer life span than existing batteries. This allows for somewhat smaller and lighter batteries than are used today. Predictions are that these batteries will be incorporated into new devices as soon as two years from today.
Ultracapacitors also hold promise for the near future. These are capacitors that exhibit the positive characteristics of both batteries and capacitors. They can charge almost instantaneously, hold their charge for exceptionally long periods, and last through a much greater number of charge/discharge cycles than rechargeable batteries. The best rechargeable battery has at most 1,000 charge cycles. Most portable device and computer batteries last 300 cycles or less. My MacBook Pro’s original battery lasted only 93 cycles. An ultracapacitor can go through millions of cycles. They can also store incredible amounts of energy when charged. Many think that they will replace the batteries in electric vehicles cars in the near future. This could create a revolution in the transportation business. However, first we will need charging stations to substitute for gasoline stations.
Hybrid cars use a combination of internal combustion engines and electric motors to power the vehicles. An alternative method would be to combine a micro-turbine engine with either the above-mentioned new lithium ion batteries or ultracapacitors. The micro-turbine would not be used to power the vehicle but rather to recharge the battery or ultracapacitor. Micro-turbines are small engines, with few moving parts that are more energy efficient than internal combustion motors. They can be powered by a variety of fuels, such as propane, natural gas, diesel, kerosene or biogas. They are generally more pollution-free than internal combustion engines. These vehicles would have a tank for carrying fuel, perhaps diesel. The micro-turbine would run automatically when needed to recharge the battery. I hope someone brings this to market as it has the promise of revolutionizing transportation.
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