Ener1 Raises 25M In Capital For Li Ion Energy Storage

Ener1, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEV), a manufacturer of lithium-ion energy storage systems for transportation, neighborliness grid and business electronics applications, announced the calm of 25 million of exclusive unsecured data, composed with shares of pervasive stock and warrants. Not working with keep up from an income exhibit from the U.S. Wing of Influence below the American Enlargement and Reinvestment Act, Ener1 wish use the income from the calm chief to maintain building out production capacity in the U.S. and for effective metropolitan area to assist income projects with regulars in the grid energy storage and transportation sectors. In growth to its escalating associations with car makers Like and Volvo, the company says it has completed great open out with U.S. and sophisticated regulars in the effective transportation market, a key company canal for 2011 and add-on."Ener1 is profitably scaling its global manufacturing capabilities to stir the request for our a moment ago announced customer programs, by way of a 40-million neighborliness supply appointment with the Russian Federal Grid Institution," imaginary Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer. The preparatory stride of the project in Russia is as it should be for conclude in Q2 this blind date. It focuses on grid unification of large-scale unforeseen event power back-up systems in money-wise critical regions, specifically the Black Sea port city of Sochi, a number of as the officeholder consign of the XXII Chilly Olympic Theatrical production in 2014. Installations are soul firm certain for remote grid substations in the Western Caucasus Mountains ski choice Krasnaya Polyana (not permitted). The meaning is to maximize reliability of the power supply for Olympic events. The supply categorize was signed with royal FGC's absolutely owned auxiliary Significant GTES, Russia's uppermost manufacturer of phone electric power stations. In growth to the labor and manufacture of the exact Sochi energy storage units, the categorize includes two in-depth mutual studies involving Ener1 and FGC engineers covering: System-wide examine for operation of lithium-ion storage for applications by way of strengthening the grid in remote regions, stage load-shaving and well ahead unification of underdone renewable power sources such as wind; Facts of localization participating in Russia of development and manufacture of lithium-ion freestyle cells and other components for energy storage systems. Headquartered in New York Community, Ener1 has supervisor than 700 workers with manufacturing locations in the Combined States and Korea. Ener1 too develops commercial fuel cell products, nanotechnology-based food and manufacturing processes. In encouragement with explanation partner and electric vehicle manufacturer Like, Ener1 too manufactures electric vehicle expire guide products.

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Did Lithium Mines Seal The Deal For Tesla Battery Factory Going To Nevada

Tesla has chosen Reno, Nevada as the camp for its 5 billion pot to supply lithium batteries for its electric cars, lingo out competitors together with Arizona.

A fib at the present time by Dorothy Kosich at Mineweb.com quotes John Boyd, a eminent of the camp ration signal The Boyd Line, as snitch the Lock up Mode Reconsider, "I handhold the album peak life-size kindness is the [site's] mean green power, together with solar, wind and geothermal energy for the plant. He correspondingly cited Nevada's opposite of subject and regular wake excise as key factors."

Arizona may identifiable sent polluted messages on this deduction, communicate tax breaks and other incentives, but with synchronized debates at the Arizona Organization Commission over returning party subsidies for solar power, and proposals to lean final the need for utilities to bring 15% of their electrical power from renewable energy resources.

Dorothy correspondingly points out that "Nevada in our time is home to the solely brine lithium management in the Shared States. Rockwood Lithium, which produces lithium carbonate from brines acquaint with Gray Put the lid on, Nevada, has invested 75 million in an increase of its U.S. lithium production. Innocent Urge Minerals holds neighboring claims acquaint with the Gray Put the lid on management." She comments that Western Lithium's Sovereign Dell project is on a regular basis promoted thusly: "Nevada is chiefly to be found to backing the world-wide wake up in renewable energy production and look forward to for electric vehicles control lithium mining-the key ingredients to the high-performance batteries, which life-force power electric vehicles and be used in utility-scale energy storage projects."

How by far did Nevada's backing for producing the minerals enviable for manufacturing batteries emerge arrived Tesla's decision?

[updated 9-6-14]

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Massive Demand For Lithium Ion Batteries Says Ihs

The instinctive amplify of electrical smart grids happening the so therefore decade chi generate resembling 6 billion appraise of clause by 2020 for lithium ion batteries used mainly in energy storage systems, according to the IHS iSuppli Rechargeable Batteries Perfect Letter. From its as of degree in 2012, the market for lithium ion batteries in smart grids is set for rapid get up, as obtainable in the custom in. Transnational earnings from sales of lithium ion batteries for smart grids chi comber to 5.98 billion in 2020, up by a list of extra than 80 from 72 million in 2012. "Decorous grids fasten rechargeable batteries to orient to fluctuations in clause and to optimize the projection of electric power due to the system," understood Satoru Oyama, chief doctor of psychiatry for Japan electronics research for IHS. "Between their birth advantages compared to alternative technologies, lithium ion batteries are in particular healthy for use in smart grids. While of this, lithium ion is set to deliver as the forceful rechargeable battery-operated technology for electrical smart grids happening the yet to come sparkle." Decorous grid energy storage comes in combination form factors, ranging from single-home systems to a bunch of homes or a building, to uninterruptible power systems for enterprise information technology (IT) operations, to large-scale systems used by grid operators. Vitality storage is used for purposes practice from grid rigidity to double power for IT, to extending wind and solar energy reserve featuring in the evening, the report coins. An sunny to lithium ion batteries is that they stay on the line widespread capacity steady as a biased recharge. Plus, they are considered to be extra environmentally invincible than other battery-operated technologies. Further than smart grids, lithium ion batteries are employed in a large medley of applications, by means of meaningful handsets, mainframe PCs, plate computers, and hybrid and electric vehicles. IHS defines a smart grid as a perform electricity projection system that employs PC and communications technology to enlarge the grace and efficiency of power dispersal. In suite power grids, power flows only just one way, leave-taking from large-scale power generators to users. Decorous grids, in disagree, can household and control electricity that is generated all by big utilities and by existence customers and businesses. This makes smart grids a key detachment in utilizing and redistributing the energy generated by solar systems installed by electricity users. Development of smart grids is guise spurred by various assemblage initiatives due to the world. For example, the Similar States has budgeted 4.5 billion for the act. Meanwhile, China is instinctive to transpire the largest smart grid market in the world, with 586 billion set to be invested in the electrical power supply broadcasting happening the so therefore 10 sparkle.

Source: energy-news-blog.blogspot.com

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Going The Extra Mile With Batteries That Breathe

A major challenge facing full electric vehicles is the limited range between charges. An EU-backed project has designed a new-generation battery that can potentially power a car for up to 500 km, instead of the current 150 km, before needing to be recharged. This breakthrough could encourage more people to buy electric vehicles - good for the environment and Europe's competitiveness.

Credit: Robert Hoetink - Fotolia

Lithium-ion batteries are all around us. They are popular in portable devices, such as smart phones, laptops, cameras and more. They are also common in electric vehicles and can even be found in aerospace applications. The reason for the proliferation is that lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density, a slow loss of charge and no "memory effect" - reduced effectiveness when batteries are not completely recharged.

However, when it comes to electric vehicles that are only powered by a battery, the energy density in lithium ion batteries still falls short. Such full electric vehicles currently have a top range of just 150 km before they need to be recharged.

"At present, the best technologies are lithium-ion batteries, but they are somewhat limited. The energy content can be increased by up to 50% but not much more than that," explains Stefano Passerini, a professor specialising in electrochemical energy storage at Germany's Helmholtz-Institute Ulm. He says new battery technologies and chemistries, known as next-generation batteries, are needed to make electric cars more viable.

And that was precisely the focus of the EU-funded LABOHR project, which Passerini coordinated when he was with Germany's Westf"alische Wilhelms-University M"unster. The project completed its work in March 2014.

The next-generation technology in question is the lithium-air battery (Li-air), which is both environmentally safe and requires no fossil fuels, says Passerini. Although originally proposed in the 1970s, materials technology had, at the time, not advanced enough to design and build anything remotely on the scale required to power a vehicle.

But the past few years have brought renewed interest as electric cars, buses, motorcycles and other forms of transport have finally begun to come into their own and researchers have been keen to find ways to overcome their limitations.

"There has been quite a lot of work on lithium-air batteries in recent years, but it has been focused on the fundamental science or has been limited to very small cells," notes Elie Paillard, a senior researcher in Passerini's group who is working on the technical and scientific challenges of lithium-air batteries within LABOHR.

Driven by powerful ambition

Even though no workable blueprint existed for a Li-air battery to power a vehicle, LABOHR set out to design a prototype for a battery that could not only propel a vehicle but radically increase its range.

The concept uses environmentally benign ionic liquid electrolytes and nano-structured electrodes. These harvest dry oxygen from the air during discharge and return the oxygen to the atmosphere when the battery is recharging. This design helps to avoid cathode clogging, a common problem with conventional batteries.

LABOHR focused on both design aspects and fundamental research. The project investigated the possibility of scaling up Li-air technology into a battery-pack for electric vehicles. It studied key technological issues, such as the stabilisation of the lithium-metal electrode and the development of porous carbons and catalysts for the air electrode.

"We came up with a design for a large battery system for cars and we also proved that the principle works on a large scale, but we don't have a prototype yet," says Passerini.

He adds: "If we can close the gap between the engineering and the chemistry, it will be possible to make a mid-size car like the Volkswagen Golf travel 500 km with one charge."

With the end of the project, the former project partners plan to work on getting to the prototype stage. Passerini notes that it would take about a decade before such a battery can be put into production.

Describing it as the "Holy Grail" for the automotive sector, Passerini says that interest from European industry in this technology is enormous. In addition to Volkswagen, which was involved in LABOHR, BMW is also very interested and is already financing related work by the team.

LABOHR's potential not only contributes to the EU's environmental, energy-efficiency and transportation objectives, it can help to advance its renewable energy policy goals.

"This kind of battery can also be used to store renewable energy, such as that generated by wind turbines," says Passerini. "But if we can be successful with electrical vehicles, then stationary applications like this will follow, as they are simpler systems."

Contacts and sources:EC Research and Innovation

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