Sunday, November 1, 2009

Metal Fuels on My Mind | Green Energy News

Metal Fuels on My Mind | Green Energy News: "Among my favorites are metal-air fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Metal-air technology, for now, includes Zinc-air (Zn-air), Magnesium-Air (Mg-air), Aluminum-air (Al-air). Lithium-air (li-air) is apparently possible and one would think many other metals could be used to store and generate electricity when exposed to the stuff we breathe.

The roots of metal-air goes back a century or more – much more – but I won’t get into that in this story.

I like the zinc, magnesium and aluminum in metal-air batteries and fuel cells because, unlike Lithium, all are abundant on the planet, particularly aluminum. (It’s the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust.) All are easily recyclable too. The use of any of those three metals with the “air” technology would allow for unlimited, low-cost energy storage for stationary and mobile applications. The hurdle of energy storage would be leaped."

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