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February 11 News: Battery Innovation Is Doubling Core Performance For Electric Cars Every Decade
First published on ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which was recently named one of Time magazine’s Top 25 blogs of 2010.
Battery innovation is improving around 5 to 8 percent per year, which can deliver a doubling in core performance metrics for electric cars every ten years. [Gigaom]
While battery innovation appears gradual, the incremental leaps add up over time. Battery innovation is improving around 5 to 8 percent per year, which can deliver a doubling in core performance metrics every ten years, which is ultimately really “revolutionary” said [Tesla’s CTO and co-founder J.B.] Straubel. Because of the large size and heavy physical weight of batteries involved with electric cars, the impact of battery innovation on the design of the car can be even more significant than Moore’s Law has on some computing products, added Straubel.
For car design, “It’s almost as if the properties of steel were improving at a rate of 5 to 8 percent per year,” said Straubel.
… the energy density of batteries goes up 15 percent every 18 months; the cost per kilowatt hour goes down 15 percent every 18 months; the life cycles of the batteries (how many times it can charge and recharge) goes up 15 percent every 18 months; and the cost per lifecycle-mile does down 50 percent every 18 months.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that a federal decision on the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline should arrive in the “near term,” but did not define what “near term” means. [The Hill]
While solar is a far less polluting energy source than coal or natural gas, solar panel manufacturers are creating millions of pounds of polluted sludge and contaminated water each year. [WaPo]
Residential solar financing, the predominant business model in some of the largest residential markets in the U.S., is forecasted to rise from $1.3 billion in 2012 to $5.7 billion in 2016. [GreenTech Media]
The European Union will devote 20 percent of its 2014-2020 budget to climate-related spending, though other related funding has been cut. [RTCC]
According to the 2012 French Electricity Report, 1.022 gigawatts of solar energy were installed that year, increasing solar capacity in the country by 67 percent. [Clean Technia]
Wind power expanded globally by almost 20 percent in 2012, reaching a new peak of 282 gigawatts of total installed capacity. [The Guardian]
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2013-02-11 08:01:28
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