The US Energy Department has been steaming full speed ahead on cutting edge energy storage technology, and the latest development is one of those environmental twofers we love. A $1 million grant from the agency will help a company called Saratoga Energy to bridge the gap between its labwork and a low cost, high efficiency energy storage technology ideal for electric vehicles — without the carbon footprint, too.
The Union of Concerned Scientists took a look at the lifecycle carbon footprint of EVsand determined that it is significantly smaller than conventional gas-powered vehicles.
However, EVs still have a carbon footprint, and in the interests of global carbon management that footprint needs to be as small as possible.
Part of the EV carbon problem is the graphite used in lithium-ion energy storage technology.
Graphite is a form of pure carbon chemically identical to diamonds but with different structural characteristics.
The carbon footprint of mining and processing comes into play for naturally occurring graphite, and the go-to source for synthetic graphite is petroleum coke (surprise!).
Local environmental issues also bedevil the graphite industry, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.
The Saratoga Energy solution is to skip the graphite supply chain middleman and go straight to the source: carbon.
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