Batteries Included

One of the great drags on the implementation of many green technologies has been the parlous state of battery technology - preventing the storage and retrieval of energy created by ecology friendly means.

Recently however, it seems we're getting much closer to many technological milestones we need to reach, in order to use batteries efficiently.

For example: this article, form the New Scientist outlines a new technology that could us to make cleaner batteries - which off-sets much of the damage potentially created by hybrid cars.

Staying with the New Scientist for a moment, we also see another innovation that allows much faster charging times. While it doesn't seem that these technologies are in any way compatible (i.e. they wouldn't allow for both advances to be installed in the same battery) it is encouraging to see two of the major problems with batteries being so conclusively dealt with.

Now I was suspicious when I found this next article, which claims to have knowledge of a "half biological and half technological" battery that "feeds on blood". But as it turns out, the story is actually backed up by a similar article - again, in the New Scientist. So apparently we can "have bio-batteries implanted in our bodies" - maybe we are "well on the road to becoming cyborgs".

Here's hoping.

Some advancements in battery technology must already be making their mark, as Renewable Energy World dot com reports that a wind farm on far West Ireland is using them to store power for later redistribution - a trick that was deemed far too inefficient to be worthwhile, only a short time ago.

And finally, in summary, Technology Review dot com reports on the same topic - with its own list of recent battery designs and innovations.