Cars That Think

DECEMBER 30, 2021

2021 was a big year for energy-related news, what with the ongoing hunt for new forms of energy storage and cleaner if not carbon-free electricity and events and research that spotlighted the weak links in our power grid. IEEE Spectrum did its best to cover those developments, and these were the stories that our readers liked best.

Hydrogen 109

Hydrogen Green Molten Salt China 109

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a new zinc-polyiodide redox flow battery offering more than two times the energy density of the next-best flow battery used to store renewable energy and support the power grid. Source: Li et al. Click to enlarge. Flow batteries.

Li-ion 150

Li-ion Energy Battery Batteries 150

Cars That Think

DECEMBER 24, 2023

The cell of a flow battery uses two chemical solutions containing ions, one acting as the anolyte (adjacent to the anode), the other as the catholyte (near the cathode). Typical redox flow batteries use ions based on iron chromium or vanadium chemistries; the latter takes advantage of vanadium’s four distinct ionic states.

Lithium Ion 145

Lithium Ion Battery Batteries Li-ion 145

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

These new GaN power devices will enable the next generation of low-cost, fast, small, and reliable power electronics, which are key for efficient power conversion in data centers, solar farms, power grids, and electric vehicles. Stanford University. Dimensional Energy.

Clean 284

Clean Cleaning Energy Li-ion 284

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 15, 2020

To help California mitigate its ever-growing wildfires, this year CalSEED has included companies that are innovating in technologies that will build wildfire resiliency into the grid. Topolonet Corporation is developing a software solution for real-time and accurate topology identification and state estimation of the transmission power grid.

Clean 371

Clean Cleaning Energy Energy Storage 371