Slashdot Mirror
Sugar Batteries Could Store 20% More Energy Than Li-Ions
An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at the Tokyo University of Science have developed a way to create sugar batteries that store 20% more energy than lithium-ion cells. Before it can be used as the anode in a sodium-ion battery, sucrose powder is turned into hard carbon powder by heating it to up to 1,500 degrees celsius in an oxygen-free oven."
Except that swapping batteries might be a bit tricky, I can think of a perfect application for these.
And I ain't li-on.
So... there's no actual sugar in it, just a carbon/sodium anode. So why call it a sugar battery? Pure asshattery of course!
"Hey! were's my cell phone?! Those ants are taking it! STOP!"
If you carbonize it, it's no longer sugar. You could probably use a host of other substances for the same purpose besides sucrose.
But we're not talking sugar straight out of the paper packet. Before it can be used as the anode in a sodium-ion battery, sucrose powder is turned into hard carbon powder by heating it to up to 1,500 degrees celsius in an oxygen-free oven
... or another form of power is a sin.
I cannot find the right words to say how much this offends me. There are plenty of other places to get carbon that does not mean driving up the cost of food for everyone else, especially in poorer countries, like what has happened with corn/maize.
--
BMO
Meh, we just plant more beets or cane.
There's no shortage of sugar in the world, so its not like you are taking food out of people's mouth.
Further, US style high-surgar diets being exported to poor countries is very harmful.
In these countries, traditional healthy diets, made up of grains, beans, vegetables, fresh fruit and animal products are being replaced by more processed and junk foods high in saturated fats, salt and sugar.
Batteries may turn out to be the best use for excess sugar, since the alternative would be eating it.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
You're missing a huge factor of scale here.
We're using corn, soybeans, etc. as fuel. They're the energy source, so a lot of the market goes into fuel instead of food. Run out of fuel, you need more corn.
These guys are using sugar to make a component on the battery. The energy comes from somewhere else. No matter how many times you recharge the battery, you won't use any more sugar.
Even if we went into full scale production of these and replaced Li-Ion batteries altogether, it wouldn't make an appreciable difference on the sugar market.
As an aside, you also have to consider that by removing the requirement of lithium, you're moving from a scarce resource to a common one. We could make those batteries in the U.S. (or whatever country you happen to be in) and not require buying lithium from China. Lithium is used for several drugs, and by removing the demand for lithium, those drugs may drop in price to the point they'll be more accessible to people in poorer countries.
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
First, regarding the so-called sugar battery;
It's really a sodium-ion battery.
They claim a 20% increase in power storage over a lithium-ion, which probably means a 20% decrease in cost, best case.
Sodium-ion batteries have cycle problems - after about 50 charge/discharges, they typically have 50% of their original capacity. They don't even talk about this, so I'm betting they haven't solved the problem.
Second, about lithium-ion batteries;
Lithium isn't rare - you could extract it from sea water for about 3 times what it costs now. Even at that price it wouldn't mean much to lithium-ion batteries, because despite the name, lithium isn't the primary ingredient, nor is it the most costly.
Envia's breakthrough battery is a lot better at 3 times the energy density and half the cost, and it's a lot closer to market.
Oh, and btw mods, "overrated" and "flamebait" are not "I disagree"
Thanks.
But there's no "You are an idiot" mod, so I guess they'll have to do.