Graphite Developers Eye Large Growing Market
The post “Integrated Graphene Producers” featured several graphene producers with novel business models that marry captive graphite sources to the technology and knowhow to produce graphene. These are not the only graphite producers. Although not as elegant as graphene with its svelte single-atom profile, the market for graphite has its appeal as well. Graphite has been a staple in steel industry crucibles, foundry molds and automobile brake linings. These days graphite has moved into another even more important place in cars - lithium ion batteries that make electric vehicles viable as replacements for gas guzzling cars and trucks.
Spherical graphite is especially desirable because the graphite anodes hold...
California Legislature to Consider Storage Portfolio Standards
John Petersen The California Energy Storage Alliance just issued a press release that describes new legislation to require utilities to incorporate energy storage in their distribution networks. The rules will mandate storage equal to 2.25% of daytime peak power by 2014 and 5% of daytime peak power by 2020. The press release is available here. A quick check of the California ISO website forecasts a peak load of approximately 29,000 MW for tomorrow. If one assumes an average peak demand of 30,000 MW, a 2.25% storage penetration would require an annual storage build of 135 MW per...
Electro Energy Delivers Silent Watch Battery System
Electro Energy Inc (EEEI) announced the delivery of a Bipolar Battery System to the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM), to be tested and demonstrated under the Silent Watch Program. The EEEI bipolar battery system was built under the Company's contract with the U.S. Army Manufacturing Technology (Mantech) Program. The EEEI system, comprised of three 1kW modules, could be operated individually or as a complete system with a 3kW power capability, which would provide on-board vehicle electrical power to operate in Silent Watch Mode for three hours compared to the existing lead acid capability of 45 minutes....
Geneva Motor Show Highlights – The Revenge of the Internal Combustion Engine
John Petersen March is Motor Show time in Geneva and it was fascinating to witness the shift in emphasis away from plug-in vehicles as European automakers highlighted their accomplishments in fuel efficiency technologies like HEVs, micro-hybrids and dual fuel drivetrains that can switch back and forth between gasoline and compressed natural gas. While there were modest displays for Tesla (TSLA), Fisker and other emerging brick-makers, and space was set aside for the obligatory plug-ins that most real manufacturers are toying with, the substantial majority of front-line vehicles at display entrances and halo cars on turntables were HEVs...
Congress Funds $1.5 Million for Electro Energy’s Battery Development Program
Electro Energy Inc (EEEI) receive $1.5 million from the 2006 budget of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for continued development and demonstration of its bipolar wafer-cell Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery energy storage program. The funding was included in the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy & Water Development bill, which was passed by the U.S. Congress today and is expected to be signed by President Bush within the next week. The 2006 funding, will bring DOE's total investment in the development of the bipolar wafer-cell NiMH battery, in the energy storage program, to approximately $6.5 million.
Energy Storage Performed Poorly in the First Quarter of 2010
John Petersen The first quarter was unkind to publicly traded companies in the energy storage sector, which saw their stock prices fall by an average of 16.22% over the last three months. While the shares of Enersys (ENS) and C&D Technologies (CHP) posted gains of 12.8% and 3.2% respectively, all of the others in my universe of 17 pure play energy storage companies traded down. The following table summarizes first quarter performance and provides some important valuation metrics. The following table summarizes the portfolio performance a hypothetical investor would have realized over the last three...
The Race For Silicon Anodes
Graphite is the most widely used material for battery anodes. The anode is the positively charged electron collector in a battery. It collects and accelerates the electronics emitted by the battery’s cathode. Graphite gets the anode job because it is has excellent electric conductivity and resists heat and corrosion. Plus it is light weight, soft and malleable.
As satisfied as manufacturers might be with graphite anodes, none would balk at an alternative material that boosts battery performance or reduces cost. Scientists believe battery capacity can be increased as much as ten times by using silicon for anodes. It requires six atoms of carbon to bind one...
Stop-Start Idle Elimination – Slashing Fuel Consumption By Up To 17%
John Petersen I've written several articles over the last year that explain why idle elimination is a crucial first step in the global effort to increase fuel efficiency and curb CO2 emissions. For readers who are new to my blog, or confused by a torrent of news stories and analysts reports that wax poetic on the expected benefits, costs and challenges of gee-whiz vehicles that are "coming soon to a showroom near you," altenergymag.com describes stop-start systems, or micro-hybrids, as follows: "These are conventional vehicles powered either by gasoline or diesel engines in which the 12-volt starter...
Grid-based Energy Storage: Widely Misunderstood Challenges and Opportunities
John Petersen The most widely misunderstood subject in the field of energy storage is the potential for grid-based applications. They fire the imagination because the grid is so pervasive and the need is so great. They also present immense challenges to storage technology developers because the fundamental economic value per unit of grid-based energy storage is very low. While the subject of grid-based storage provides rich fodder for media reports and political posturing, the reality bears little relation to the perception. On March 9th, Lux Research published a sorely needed reality check in a new report titled "Grid...
Is Stop-start Idle Elimination Crushing Vehicle Electrification?
John Petersen Since June of 2009 I've been a voice in the wilderness proclaiming that stop-start idle elimination will become a dominant automotive fuel efficiency technology by mid-decade and represent a tremendous business opportunity for established lead-acid battery manufacturers like Johnson Controls (JCI) and Exide Technologies (XIDE) and emerging energy storage technology developers like Maxwell Technologies (MXWL), Axion Power International (AXPW.OB) and A123 Systems (AONE). In the process I've suffered more than a little abuse, scorn, derision and ridicule from EVangelicals who think it makes sense to propel up to 5,300 pounds of metal at highway...
First Quarter Earnings Omens and Bright Spots in Energy Storage
John Petersen The first quarter earning season is usually boring because it follows 45 days after year-end earnings reports and significant changes are the exception, rather than the rule. This year, the energy storage sector has been a clear exception and every company I track, other than the amazing gravity defying Tesla Motors, is down from its March 31st close. The following table summarizes the performance of the stocks I track from June 30th of last year and March 31st of this year through yesterday's close. While some of the declines can be attributed to...
Canadian and Tanzanian Graphite Connections
A list of graphite companies covered in this series can be found here.
Like performance test results, customer relationships are critical stepping stones for graphite developers. In June 2018, Northern Graphite (NGC: TSX-V) announced a memorandum of understanding with a European trading company to sell 100% of the output from Northern’s Bisset Creek resources in Ontario, Canada. China-based manufacturers are the intended end-users. Northern management is using the arrangement as leverage with prospective investors to finance mine infrastructure and processing equipment. Capital costs are expected to exceed CA$145 million.
Northern claims a proprietary purification technology the company intends to use to upgrade its graphite output. Its Bissett Creek deposit...
Feel-Good Government Grants Leading Cleantech Astray
David Gold Grants for smart grid projects. Grants for battery manufacturing lines. Loan guarantees for renewable energy project development. Grants to private companies for energy efficiency projects. And with each it seems that the cleantech world cheers. Yet for all our desire to create sustainability in our consumption and use of energy, this model of getting us there is not only unsustainable but is of questionable value. I want to emphasize that I am speaking about government grants to the private sector where the government is not the end customer and...
Dilution for Dummies – Why A123 Systems is Undervalued
John Petersen Bartenders are smarter than most investors because they know what dilution is and they never get it wrong. Unfortunately, the markets have made such a bogeyman out of the word 'dilution' that public companies often suffer extreme backlash from financing transactions that should have existing stockholders on their feet and dancing in the aisles. Today I'll try to clear up some of the profound confusion that runs rampant in the minds of retail investors. Every bartender knows you can't dilute a beer by adding a shot of whiskey. The boilermaker is always stronger....
Money Is Flowing Into Alt Energy Again, But We Are Not Out Of The...
Charles MorandIt seems as though the darkest clouds are finally dissipating over alt energy's financing horizon. Over the past few weeks, money has started flowing into the sector again, as evidenced by a number of recent deal announcements: On June 9, I reported on the upcoming IPO for Magma Energy Corp., a geothermal exploration company. The IPO's size will be upped from an initial C$50 MM to C$100 MM, a sign of increased market appetite SunPower Corp. raised $418 MM in early May through a share and debt offering, and recently announced it had reached a $100...
Why Energy Storage Investors Must Understand Resource Constraints
John Petersen This Saturday marks the second anniversary of my blog, which began with an article titled Lithium-ion Batteries and Centerfolds. Over time my archive has grown to 142 articles on energy storage devices, the companies that make them and their crucial role as enabling technologies for wind and solar power, transportation and the smart grid. While cleantech bloggers usually focus on new technologies that might be game-changers, I'd rather focus on major enhancements to proven technologies from established industry leaders. The reason is simple, hot new technologies have limited investment value if the world can't produce enough...
