MIT Technology Review: The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA–E) announced the award of 66 new grants totaling $130 million. The grants show a notable shift in investment toward companies working with US natural gas deposits, but they are even more heavily focused on advancements in energy storage technology. The 20 grants for energy storage include projects developing advanced aqueous rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and thermal storage devices. ARPA–E grants are for potential “transformational” technologies. The high-risk investments are intended to help the companies prototype their products within two to three years, with the hope that the products will be commercialized.
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Awesome prospect here. My 2007 Toyota Corolla obtaines 40 M.P.G highway. Build a similar vehicle as a plug-in hybrid with the proposed Lithium-Suflur batteries and even a stylistically simple vehicle otherwise similar to my Corolla would be a sweet machine indeed.
Safe aqueous Lithium Sulfur batteries could fnd all sorts of markets ranging from light-weight re-chargeable propeller planes, tanks, trucks, buses, and most useful to me, long life-time cell phone charges.
Something as simple as a game changer safe galvanic cell can be transformational. Hope all works out well with the R&D and manufacturing.