Copper Indium Gallium Selenide - not just for solar cells anymore

The heat conversion properties of Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS for short) have long been one of the primary elements of photovoltaic cells.

But according to Discover magazine, the alloy is being put to different uses. They can also be used for, say, converting the heat from factories into the electricity used to run the factories. This doesn't mean that said factories will suddenly become the industrial equivalent of a perpetual motion machine, but it could cut down on outside fuel costs and reduce dependence on ubiquitous and dirty coal-powered electrical plants.

Research is also going into vehicles. CIGS can be used to convert heat from car engines into the electricity needed for radio, AC and other non-locomotive functions of a vehicle, seriously reducing the draw on batteries and saving consumers money and the hassle of needing a jump if the heat-generated power can be stored efficiently.

It isn't quite comic book science fiction Halo technology, but it's step toward fuel efficiency and keeping dirty car batteries out of landfills.

Tomorrow's energy today Pt. 3: The vanadium redox flow battery

Despite it's name, vanadium is not a product of Stark Industries, nor does it fuel any piece of Iron Man's ragingly cool and seemingly low-emission suit. I didn't notice much of a vapor trail, so I'm assuming the metallic muscle man has a relatively low carbon footprint.

[If anyone knows the fuel specs of Iron Man's suit, I would appreciate a head's up. Not finding anything on the web except how much he can lift, how much damage he does in equivalence to pounds of TNT and how fast he flies. No fuel specs.]

While we're in the Zen mode of exploring what things are not, the vanadium redox flow battery is not an invention of Jack Marlowe's Halo Industries, nor will never be used in a cell phone, lap top or even an electric vehicle.

In fact, the vanadium redox flow battery is even more unwieldy than its name.

The battery is enormous, with two tanks of electrolytic liquids that create a charge in a central chamber then flow back to their tank. The energy can be stored and reused almost indefinitely. The problem was that the membrane separating the two liquids would eventually weaken and when the two mix, they were rendered unusable.

The answer was to use vanadium, a soft whitish metal found abundantly and has four state of oxidation. Each state of oxidation has a different energy capacity diluted in liquid. Even when the two states mix, there is no loss because the vanadium can easily flow from one state to another.

The sun goes down at night and wind is as capricious as the mythical wind gods once believed behind it.

With a vanadium redox flow battery, a power plant will not have to rely on natures whims. With this battery at its core, a plant can run almost indefinitely.

Yesterday's sci-fi is tomorrow's reality

In the October issue of Discover magazine, an entire section is dedicated to alternate energy. The editors write:

"One of the greatest impediments to progress is simple failure of imagination." ("Reinventing the World." Discover October 2008: 19.)

In the kitschy sci-fi classic, Logan's Run, there are ubiquitous advertisements for plastic surgery whenever the protagonist is in public areas. At the time, in the real world, this was unheard of. Plastic surgery was for the stars and the idle rich. Now, commercials for nose jobs, face-lifts and even (gasp!) breast augmentation are as common as those for little magic pills that can make one happy for the measly cost of a greasy stool and sometimes death.

Comic books in many senses are simply sci-fi novels for the ADHD ridden (no offense to any fans of the graphic medium as I am - just making a point).

Back in 2003, when An Inconvenient Truth was merely an inkling of a twinkle in Al Gore's disenfranchised eye, a comic book writer was predicting the future with what some may argue was almost creepily accurate.

No longer content to save the world by beating up one super-baddy at a time, Joe Casey took on one of Wildstorm's (now a subsidiary of DC Comics, which is owned by Time Warner, but we'll let the Bildeberger conspiracy buffs tackle that one) flagship books, WildC.A.T.S., re-vamped it as Wildcats v. 3.0 and created a new breed of superhero.

Jack Marlowe (nee Spartan) was a former android superhero created in another galaxy who took over his "uncle's" corporation upon the elder's death. Trading spandex for a white three piece suit, Marlowe decided to go about saving the world through commerce. The alien technology involved made it possible.

The first product introduced by the Halo Corporation were simple batteries. The difference: they last forever. No need to mine more ore for the casings or risk acid leaks. Not to mention the exponential savings in land fills and recycling plants.

But batteries were just the beginning. Next came cell phones with superior reception that never tire and computers that run off a Halo power source, eliminating the need for power cords.

But the coup de grace was discovered accidentally. While test driving a Halo sponsored Nascar (sporting a Halo battery, natch!), the driver realized he'd driven over 100 miles on an empty gas tank. Production of low-cost, non-petroleum dependent cars went into effect immediately.

Although science fiction is in no way a barometer for what's to come (I still ain't buying artificial gravity, Roddenberry), the imagination that the editors of Discover insist is a necessity is certainly in some of these individual's writings.

There are no retired superheroes masquerading as businessmen, nor is there (to my knowledge) any alien tech involved in some of the new technologies and thoughts I will be discussing for the next week or so.

Until then, live long and prosper. "Ride in style...Straight into the future."
Copyright 2005 Wildstorm Comics