Battery Metals

EnerSys (Booth B3547) is showcasing the expanded NexSys battery line, featuring proprietary Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) technology that can fast charge in just under an hour and be opportunity charged to work for up to 16 hours.

According to Chad Uplinger, VP of sales, this flexibility opens up several new charging options for a range of materials handling applications.

“We’re excited to bring higher capacity TPPL battery options to the Americas,” Uplinger said. “Operators of Class I, II and III vehicle fleets now have a virtually maintenance-free power solution and the means to lower their total cost of operation.”

NexSys batteries do not require equalization or watering, reducing labor and overwatering risks. Ideal for use in multi-shift operations, NexSys batteries can eliminate the need for battery change-outs and battery changing room requirements.

Additionally, a NexSys iON battery—an advanced lithium-ion solution—is scheduled for launch in late 2018.

Modex 2018 is scheduled to be held April 9-12 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The tradeshow will showcase the latest manufacturing, distribution and supply chain solutions in the materials handling and logistics industry. Modern’s complete coverage of the show.

Global technology giant Apple has reached its goal of being powered by 100 per cent clean energy, but the company is holding fire on investing in any energy projects in Australia.

The Californian-based company is keen to show it is a good corporate citizen and serious about tackling climate change. Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Tuesday morning (6am Sydney time) announced the creator of the iMac and iPhone had reached its milestone of all of its global facilities using 100 per cent renewable energy sources.

This includes its retail stores, offices, data centres and co-located facilities in 43 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India, according to Apple.

Apple is also using its clout to force its suppliers to embrace renewable energy. The company announced nine additional manufacturing partners had committed to power all their Apple production with 100 per cent clean energy, taking the total number of supplies taking part in Apple’s green dream to 23.

At one of Apple’s suppliers in China, solar panels are mounted high off the ground to let sunlight shine through, so grass can grow and local yaks can eat it. Supplied

This will help avoid 1.5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere, says Apple.

“We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it. After years of hard work we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone,” Mr Cook said in a statement.

“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”

Apple’s environmental boss, Lisa Jackson, last year signalled the global tech giant was looking at expanding into Australia’s energy market including possible stakes in solar and wind projects as part of a push to reduce its carbon footprint.

Ms Jackson – the senior vice-president of environment, policy and social initiatives for Apple who reports directly to Mr Cook – said at the time the company was looking to “move closer to the supply of electricity” in Australia.

This was more likely to be in the form of a direct stake in an energy project, rather than investing in a new power plant on its own.

Apple is yet to make a play into the Australian market, but it is keeping its green credentials by procuring power for its Australian retail stores, corporate offices and co-located data facilities from green energy schemes supplied by local energy retailers.

25 operational renewable energy projects

Apple now has 25 operational renewable energy projects around the world, totalling 626 megawatts of generation capacity. A record 286 megawatts of solar photovoltaic generation came on-line last year.

There are a further 15 projects in construction, which will take the technology giant’s renewable energy generation to more than 1.4 gigawatts across 11 countries.

Apple’s most well-known renewable energy project is its new headquarters in Cupertino, California, south of San Francisco, which opened last year. It is now the largest LEED platinum-certified office building in North America.

Apple Park – which was rumoured to have cost a staggering $6 billion for its 12,000 employees – is powered by a 17 megawatt on-site solar installation as well as 4 megawatts of biogas fuel cells controlled by a microgrid with battery storage. Any excess energy is pumped back into the Californian power grid.

Apple recently announced plans to build a 37,000 square metre state-of-the-art data centre in Waukee, Iowa, that will run entirely on renewable energy on day one. Its existing data centre in Maiden, North Carolina, is supported by projects that generate 244 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy a year, which is equivalent to more than 17,000 homes.

It also has deals to install more than 300 rooftop solar systems in Japan to generate 18,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy every year and a 200 megawatt power purchasing agreement for an Oregon wind farm, which is set to come on-line by the end of next year.

Perhaps Apple’s biggest influence when it comes to tackling climate change is to ask its suppliers, including those in China, to become 100 per cent renewable to keep their business with the tech giant. It says about 75 per cent of its carbon footprint comes from its wider supply chain.

Apple has set up a website to help suppliers become “green” and is using its financial clout help suppliers secure affordable power purchasing deals with retailers around the world.

It is also trying to find ways to source the components of its products, including the 20,000 parts in an iPhone, from reusable or renewable (compostable) products, as part of a “closed loop” supply chain.

Will we someday be able to fly without the guilt of causing environmental damage? A handful of firms and regulators hope that the electric revolution in cars will also take to the skies, helping the industry cope with an expected boom in travel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Many people say that we must get rid of air transport because we will never be able to deal with emissions and noise, but this is an outdated approach,” said Norwegian Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen, who recently hosted an aviation conference in Oslo. Norway, the largest oil and gas producer in western Europe, is paradoxically a pioneer in the field of electric transport. The Nordic nation aims for all new vehicle registrations to be zero emission by 2025 and launched a first electric ferry in early 2015. After land and water, the northern kingdom is now turning to the sky with the goal of electrifying all short haul flights in just over 20 years. “In my mind, there is no doubt: by 2040 Norway will be operating totally electric,” said Dag Falk-Petersen, head of the country’s public airport operator, Avinor.

Air transportation’s impact on global warming is estimated at around five percent through CO2 emissions and other substances, including nitrogen oxide and water vapour.

As the number of air passengers is expected to almost double by 2036 to 7.8 billion per year, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) projections, aviation’s impact is on a course to increase substantially if nothing is done. Meanwhile, the airline industry aims to cut its CO2 emissions in half by 2050 from 2005 levels. While the international umbrella group Climate Action Network (CAN) says these goals are unrealistic, some airlines are beginning to look at electric-powered aircraft as an answer.

The small regional carrier Wideroe Airlines, operating in Norway’s far north, plans to renew its fleet of twin-engine Bombardier Dash 8 planes with electric-powered aircraft by 2030.

“Aircraft producers see that they have to do it because otherwise there will be a new Tesla taking their positions,” said Falk-Petersen, referring to how the upstart US electric car manufacturer has shaken up the traditional automobile industry.

Both of the major manufacturers of large passenger aircraft, Airbus and Boeing, are exploring the viability of electric planes.

Airbus aims to develop a hybrid model called E-Fan X, and has teamed up with British engine maker Rolls Royce and German industrial group Siemens. The first flight is planned for 2020.

“One of the biggest challenges is electricity storage,” Glenn Llewellyn, general manager for electrification at Airbus, told AFP.

As with cars, the performance of batteries is a critical element, with the added problem that they are heavier than fuel and carrying them into the air is the most-energy intensive part of the flight.

“But at the same time battery technology is probably the technology in the world which has the most investment. So it will evolve,” added Llewellyn.

Zunum Aero, a start-up partly financed by US aeronautics group Boeing, meanwhile plans to bring a 12-seat hybrid plane to the market by 2022.

“The price that we’re targeting is very much in line with the current aircraft but the operation cost is just a fraction, it’s literally 60 to 70 percent lower than an equivalent aircraft in operation right now,” said the startup’s founder Matt Knapp.

The expected lower operating costs of electric planes, both due to cheap electricity and simpler motors, means that the highly competitive airline industry could end up adopting them quickly.

Airbus offered several years ago updated aircraft with 15 percent fuel savings, and as jet fuel is a major cost for airlines, they quickly placed orders for thousands as they tried to get ahead of rivals.

The transition to electric could also provide another advantage: they are much quieter, meaning they may win exceptions to restrictions imposed due to noise near residential areas.

Combined with the fact that electric planes don’t need such long runways, they could be used at some smaller airports close to city centres.

Avinor said switching to electric would also help airlines avoid any climate change related penalties that regulators could impose, such as higher taxes and flying restrictions.

Norway sees itself as a good test bed for electric planes.

“There are a lot of issues to deal with, with icy conditions, with heavy winds,” says Widero CEO Stein Nilsen.

“But if we can do that here in Norway, I’m certain that this air plane will cope with any conditions in any place in the world.”

Fast Charging is rapidly becoming a mainstream charging technology due to cost savings, increased productivity, and safety. While Fast Charging of batteries is not a new technology (used in many handheld devices in the past), it really started to take off to reduce charging time of on-road electric vehicles.

Fast Chargers are different from conventional chargers in many ways. First off, the power rating can be 3-4 times the rating of a conventional charger often requiring the use of dual cables and connectors for charging rates in excess of 300A.  In addition, Fast chargers incorporate advance controls that maximize the battery’s’ acceptance of the charge while monitoring the battery temperature rise to avoid overheating.  In order to achieve this information transfer, you will need connectors that include auxiliary contacts.

The common two types of connectors used are the SBE® style and the Din 43589-1 style connectors. Both connector styles offer robust housings and contacts that will handle 5000 or more mating cycles. In addition, they offer four or more auxiliary contacts for applications such as battery monitoring. Both connector types are rated to EN1175:1998 and have attributes that make them the right choice depending on your application needs. Key attributes to consider when choosing one or the other are:

Research firm Future Market Insights says the global surface plasmon resonance market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3 percent during the period 2017-2027 and reach nearly $1.3 billion in revenues in 2027. It cites increasing demand for high end, surface plasmon resonance from end users — such as hospitals, clinics, ambulatory surgical centres, nursing centers and reference laboratories — for better throughput and performance, which will generate opportunities for using the surface plasmon resonance technique over the long run and drive growth.

Imaging systems will be one of the largest market segments it says, especially with increasing adoption of label-free detection techniques over labelled detection techniques. The other segment also anticipated to register significant growth is biosensors.

A recent application highlighted research from Soochow University, China, which uses LSPR technology in smart windows, which can adapt properties in response to environmental conditions, without any manual intervention. It is based on the adaptive behavior of thermochromic materials, which change color in response to changes in temperature. The prototype smart window utilizes LSPR to convert photons from ambient sunlight to localized thermal energy. This triggers the thermochromic window to switch from transparent to opaque, blocking further incoming sunlight.

Will we someday be able to fly without the guilt of causing environmental damage?

A handful of firms and regulators hope that the electric revolution in cars will also take to the skies, helping the industry cope with an expected boom in travel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Many people say that we must get rid of air transport because we will never be able to deal with emissions and noise, but this is an outdated approach,” said Norwegian Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen, who recently hosted an aviation conference in Oslo.

Norway, the largest oil and gas producer in western Europe, is paradoxically a pioneer in the field of electric transport.

The Nordic nation aims for all new vehicle registrations to be zero emission by 2025 and launched a first electric ferry in early 2015.

After land and water, the northern kingdom is turning to the sky with the goal of electrifying all short haul flights in just over 20 years.

“In my mind, there is no doubt: by 2040 Norway will be operating totally electric,” said Dag Falk-Petersen, head of the country’s public airport operator, Avinor.

Tesla of the skies?

Air transportation’s impact on global warming is estimated at around 5% through CO2 emissions and other substances, including nitrogen oxide and water vapour.

As the number of air passengers is expected to almost double by 2036 to 7.8 billion per year, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) projections, aviation’s impact is on a course to increase substantially if nothing is done.

Meanwhile, the airline industry aims to cut its CO2 emissions in half by 2050 from 2005 levels.

While the international umbrella group Climate Action Network (CAN) says these goals are unrealistic, some airlines are beginning to look at electric-powered aircraft as an answer.

The small regional carrier Wideroe Airlines, operating in Norway’s far north, plans to renew its fleet of twin-engine Bombardier Dash 8 planes with electric-powered aircraft by 2030.

“Aircraft producers see that they have to do it because otherwise there will be a new Tesla taking their positions,” said Falk-Petersen, referring to how the upstart US electric car manufacturer has shaken up the traditional automobile industry.

Both of the major manufacturers of large passenger aircraft, Airbus and Boeing, are exploring the viability of electric planes.

Airbus aims to develop a hybrid model called E-Fan X, and has teamed up with British engine maker Rolls Royce and German industrial group Siemens. The first flight is planned for 2020.

“One of the biggest challenges is electricity storage,” Glenn Llewellyn, general manager for electrification at Airbus, told AFP.

As with cars, the performance of batteries is a critical element, with the added problem that they are heavier than fuel and carrying them into the air is the most-energy intensive part of the flight.

“But at the same time battery technology is probably the technology in the world which has the most investment. So it will evolve,” added Llewellyn.

Any place in the world’

Zunum Aero, a start-up partly financed by US aeronautics group Boeing, meanwhile plans to bring a 12-seat hybrid plane to the market by 2022.

“The price that we’re targeting is very much in line with the current aircraft, but the operation cost is just a fraction, it’s literally 60 to 70% lower than an equivalent aircraft in operation right now,” said the startup’s founder Matt Knapp.

The expected lower operating costs of electric planes, both due to cheap electricity and simpler motors, means that the highly competitive airline industry could end up adopting them quickly.

Airbus offered several years ago updated aircraft with 15% fuel savings, and as jet fuel is a major cost for airlines, they quickly placed orders for thousands as they tried to get ahead of rivals.

The transition to electric could also provide another advantage: they are much quieter, meaning they may win exceptions to restrictions imposed due to noise near residential areas.

Combined with the fact that electric planes don’t need such long runways, they could be used at some smaller airports close to city centres.

Avinor said switching to electric would also help airlines avoid any climate change related penalties that regulators could impose, such as higher taxes and flying restrictions.

Norway sees itself as a good test bed for electric planes.

“There are a lot of issues to deal with, with icy conditions, with heavy winds,” says Widero CEO Stein Nilsen.

“But if we can do that here in Norway, I’m certain that this air plane will cope with any conditions in any place in the world.”