Sugar Batteries Could Store 20% More Energy Than Li-Ions 152
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.
terrible reporting yet again (Score:5, Insightful)
So... there's no actual sugar in it, just a carbon/sodium anode. So why call it a sugar battery? Pure asshattery of course!
How is it a "sugar battery" then? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you carbonize it, it's no longer sugar. You could probably use a host of other substances for the same purpose besides sucrose.
Sugar my butt ... (Score:1, Insightful)
Carbon / Sodium battery not sugar battery. Must be just like Spenda -- We processed sugar so that it is no longer sugar, so we can make a stupid claim that gets your attention because you are fooled into thinking it is somehow made of sugar.
Carbon powder, not sugar (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Re:Turning food into electricity... (Score:5, Insightful)
... 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 [reuters.com] 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 [theecologist.org].
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.
Re:Turning food into electricity... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:terrible reporting yet again (Score:2, Insightful)
Think I'm exaggerating?
Re:Turning food into electricity... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Turning food into electricity... (Score:4, Insightful)
As a guess, I'd say it was because grass clippings and other vegetable matter aren't very consistant and would require refining to attain the purity of carbon needed.
Sugar (sucrose, anyway) is a refined product. I know, I pick up truckloads of it in Louisiana from the Domino refinery every now and again :) A fellow truck driver got a bag of raw sugar off a dump truck that was being delivered there, but he couldn't use it because it had sand in it.