''Search for the Super Battery: Discover the Powerful World of Batteries'' is a 2017 American documentary film about energy storage and how it may help provide an environmentally friendly, or green, future. The basic mechanism of batteries, including

lithium-ion A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

types, is described. The benefits and limitations of various batteries are also presented. Details of seeking a much safer, more powerful, longer-lasting and less expensive battery, a so-called "super battery", is discussed. The broad importance of energy storage devices, in mobile phones and automobiles, and in the overall electric grid system of the United States, is examined in detail.

Participants

The documentary film is

narrated A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc.). N ...

Jay O. Sanders Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre. Early life and education Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...

and includes the following participants (alphabetized by last name): *

(Narrator) *

David Pogue David Welch Pogue (born March 9, 1963) is an American technology and science writer and TV presenter. He is an Emmy-winning correspondent for ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' and author of the "Crowdwise" column in ''The New York Times'' Smarter Livi ...

( Host) * Guenter Conzelmann (

Argonne National Lab Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facility is located in Lemont, Illinois, outside of Chicago, and is the larg ...

) * George Crabtree ( Joint Center for Energy Storage Research) * Alexis Georgeson (

Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

) * Denise Gray ( LG Chem Power) * Theo Gray (

Chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and author) *

Daniel Kammen Daniel Merson Kammen is an American scientist, renewable energy expert, and former government figure. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds a ...

(

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

) * Doug Kim (

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of ap ...

) * Joshua Lamb (

Sandia National Labs Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force B ...

) * Jay Leno ( 1909 electric car owner) * Greg Less ( University of Michigan (Battery Lab)) * Y. Shirley Meng (

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

) * Jeff Sakamoto (

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

) * Seth Sanders ( Amber Kinetics) * Venkat Srinivasan (

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...

) * Leigh Anna Steele (

) * Levi Thompson (

) * Lynn Trahey (

) * Steven Visco ( PolyPlus Battery Company) * Jay Whitacre ( Aquion Energy) * Mike Zimmerman (Ionic Materials)

Summaries in the media

According to David Templeton of the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

, the program "walks the viewer through the science of how batteries work, returning to that theme time and again to explain variations in design to create cheaper, safer, longer-lasting batteries and energy-storage systems." Notable discoveries, featured in the program, Templeton reports, are a safe battery "made with

saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

electrolytes An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon di ...

", as well as a safe battery "made of plastics that can use

lithium metal Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ele ...

rather than a traditional

lithium ion A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

to produce longer-lasting, safe power." Vicky Hallet of the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

writes that lithium-ion batteries "gained widespread popularity because of their ability to pack a lot of energy into a lightweight package." However, such batteries – due to the

thermal runaway Thermal runaway describes a process that is accelerated by increased temperature, in turn releasing energy that further increases temperature. Thermal runaway occurs in situations where an increase in temperature changes the conditions in a way t ...

properties of the varieties of lithium-content rechargeable cells that use

lithium cobalt oxide Lithium cobalt oxide, sometimes called lithium cobaltateA. L. Emelina, M. A. Bykov, M. L. Kovba, B. M. Senyavin, E. V. Golubina (2011), "Thermochemical properties of lithium cobaltate". ''Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry'', volume 85, issue ...

in their positive electrodes – can potentially burst into flames. The program shows several possible ways to make batteries safer. Hallet reports that the program presents an important notion: "Batteries are evolving to do more, and do it safely. It’s powerful stuff."

Gallery

Image:DavidPogueOct10.jpg,

( Host) Image:Theodore Gray.jpg, Theo Gray
(

and author) Image:RAEL NASA Solar Tower480x247 (cropped) Daniel Kammen.png,

(

) Image:JayLenoJul08.jpg, Jay Leno
( 1909 electric car owner)

References

External links

* * *
''Search for the Super Battery''
at

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

''Search for the Super Battery'' – Video (53:32)

''Search for the Super Battery''
– video search on YouTube.
''Search for the Super Battery''
– video search on Dailymotion.
Super-Charged Capacitors – Video (03:33)
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* Batteries �
Learning Package
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* Batteries �
Future types (2017)
{{Nova (TV series) 2017 American television episodes Battery (electricity) Nova (American TV program) episodes 2017 films

Participants

Summaries in the media

Gallery

See also

References

External links