Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

An organic hi-tech future?

While we like to admire our shiny new hi-tech devices made from inorganic elements and compounds of silicon, gold, neodymium and the like, it's looking increasingly as if the next wave of technology will be base on organics.

For over a decade, metal-based LEDs have been threatened by OLEDs which bring the promise of brighter and more efficient lighting and display technology.

In the world of computing, Moore's law seems to be hitting quantum barriers which may force a switch to DNA-based computers, leading to self-replicating, self-repairing systems which operate at a molecular level.

The quest for extracting energy from sunlight is also leaning heavily towards organic components which leverage the power of photosynthesis to turn a stream of photons into energy-rich compounds or even raw electrical potential.

And this week it was announced that even the quest for a superior battery has embraced the world of organic materials.

This article from Science Daily hints at a potential breakthrough in delivering the critical missing link that would allow for a far greater reliance on renewable energy sources.

The "organic mega flow battery" relies on quinones, organic-like molecules that would allow the creation of batteries whose storage potential is dictated simply by the volume of quinone liquid they contain. Need more energy storage... just add another tank of the stuff.

This would be a tremendous boost for renewable energy sources which tend to be erratic or cyclic in nature. The use of wind and solar energy has been crippled by its limited availability, especially at night -- when demand is highest but supply is lowest.

Although similar battery technologies have been developed before, they have always relied on expensive metallic compounds or metals such as Vanadium -- thus making them very expensive.

Quinones however, are abundant in nature, often being found in crude oil as well as living plants. The OMF batteries developed by a team at Harvard relies on quinones very similar to those from the rhubarb plant.

The term "home grown battery technology" may take on a whole new meaning.

To give an idea of what would be involved, scientists have indicated that a tank containing 100-200 litres of quinone fluid would be enough to store an entire day's solar energy production from a regular domestic installation. Backup storage added to the national grid would consist of tank-farms, scaled according to the storage needs.

Obviously it doesn't sound as if OMF batteries can compete with lithium ion with respect to energy density by weight or volume but the simplicity, ease of maintenance (just replace the fluid) and relatively low cost could deliver a truly viable solution to the renewable energy challenge.

Please visit the sponsor!

(Sorry, forums are stuffed at present)

PERMALINK to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font