Radical power storage discoveries will change it all

The last months have witnessed the announcement of new technologies that will change our world, the way our electronic equipment works and the way we transport, install -and very impontant- how we power it.

Some of the scientific and technological developments were -to some extent- predictable. but a couple of them, have been waited for decades, which makes them simply REVOLUTIONARY.
I simply dont understand why nobody seems to have noticed... The synthesis of this information and their radical consecuences is -yet-nowhere to be found. The facts are outthere but forums and blogs (let alone traditional media) dont seem to have realized what have been predicted in... two years time¡¡¡

So let's look at the facts:
1- All digital electronic gear (and some of the analogue ones) relies inthe ICs or Chips inside. And these Chips are manufactured with a microphotographic process that some years ago was able to print conductive metal in a silicon bed as little as 900 nanometers (nms) size.

At july 2009 intel i7 chips are done in 45 nms and firms are perfecting the upcoming 32 nms. This means that in the last couple of years top line CPU manufactoring process has shrienked from 95 nms into 32 nms.¡¡¡
But this progress doesn't stop here. See this june news release [url=http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/06/16/toshiba-claims-16nm-breakthrough][/url]

What smaller chip sizes means? For one it allows to double, triple, etc. the amount of instructions that a single Chip can handle. Decreasing size allows for less electricity needed to power them up, thus less final electricity consumption. Wonder why actual electronic gear use 7, 15, 35 or 50 watts, where not long ago 65, 95 or more watts was the norm???.
Decreasing size and lower power consumption in turn reduces generated heat... Which is one of the biggest design problems that within time causes low chip's lifespan, high rate of failures, etc.

2. Ok. That is all good and fairly known... What are the real news? They come from two different investigations. When these two separate discoveries will be able to combine into a single product, the resulting product line will definitelly change our World:

-Batteries will charge in seconds instead of hours as today. Source: [url=http://www.goodcleantech.com/2009/03/new_lithium_battery_takes_seco.php][/url]

-And batteries finally are going to reduce its size 2,5 fold -or in other words- to augment its capacity in 2,5 times for their actual size. That is almost three times smaller as today's standards. Source: [url=http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/06/11/lithium-sulphur-triples-battery-life/1][/url]

Pheeeew....
Just envission electric cars with batteries weighing a third, or capable of 300 miles autonomy at the end of where, a rapid charge (faster than a fuel stop) awaits...
What about laptops with 24 continus use autonomy?. Cell phones with 2,5x life?. These are today's basic tools radically changing.
For a moment spare the environmental benefits, (or Obama's good timing)... the real-life consequences are staggering.

These examples and numbers are based on the batteries advancement and do not consider the effects of the already-in-use Chip tech evolution described above... Or the amazing efficient LED tech lighting, which is currently replacing from home light bulbs to whole City lighting grids.

The new batteries capacities are going to impact us -even- in more definitive ways. Having a rechargable battery that is really weight and power efficient, plus it has the ability to recharge in seconds... will surely mean a WHOLE NEW WAY OF DEALING WITH ELECTRICITY.
Nowadays electricity is more a flux than a product. You can really not store it. Generation centrals are ON all the time, you either use it or loose it and. From now on, its going to be possible to store it, more like the water system with water tanks distributed all along the grid. Therefore electronic equipment and probably houses, cars and everything will have an electricity storage device on their power input area. This smart storing device is going to be used and recharged as best efficiency (intelligently) says so, or depending on when it is plugged, if the gear happens to be mobile.

Thinking forward a little more, electronic equipment may not need the huge transformers needed to convert from 220v or 110v (AC) into 10v, 5v or 3v (DC) which is the tipical range inside electronics utilize. The wall or the recharging dock will house the transformers, while the equipment will replace it with these smat storing batteries...

Eco-friendy and relatively economic and efficient tools will transform the world as we know it... and will help to make these available not just to 1000 to 2000 million people as happens now, but to the 5000 millions not there yet,

Yes, this has been happening the last centuries... but Jun 2009 news strongly signal a new paradigm shift, a step jump on the growing curve, undoubtely worth to notice.
Good news indeed.

////Extracted from: [url=http://tascamforums.com/index.php?showtopic=20288&st=0&p=122060&#entry122060][/url]