Scientists Invent 30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery

[Trovalor]

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news-betavoltaic-10.1.html


Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years.http://www.nextenergynews.com/pictures/Betavoltaic.jpg
Although betavoltaic batteries sound Nuclear they’re not, they’re neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so (do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste). Betavoltaics generate power when an electron strikes a particular interface between two layers of material. The Process uses beta electron emissions that occur when a neutron decays into a proton which causes a forward bias in the semiconductor. This makes the betavoltaic cell a forward bias diode of sorts, similar in some respects to a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Electrons scatter out of their normal orbits in the semiconductor and into the circuit creating a usable electric current.
The profile of the batteries can be quite small and thin, a porous silicon material is used to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. The reaction is non-thermal which means laptops and other small devices like mobile phones will run much cooler than with traditional lithium-ion power batteries. The reason the battery lasts so long is that neutron beta-decay into protons is the world's most concentrated source of electricity, truly demonstrating Einstein’s theory E=MC2.
The best part about these cells are when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If all goes well plans are for these cells to reach store shelves in about 2 to 3 years.


Envirowacko's will probably love this idea, so why not more of an uproar from them? Easy, it came from a U. S. Air Force Research Lab, and since the military is evil, anything that comes from them must also be evil.


That aside, something like this is great news to me, a battery that lasts 30 years? Thats insanely good compared to todays standard of batteries. It also makes me hopeful to what else could be in store, imagine a vehicle running on a power source like this, could it be *gasp* a potential end to our reliance on gasohol? Or at least a car battery that wont die if you leave your light on over night :biggrin:.


I love when new developments like this come out, it makes me hopeful for the future, and that the demonazi's wont have us living in the dark ages to protect the environment.

[Rhino]

neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so (do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste)...

...porous silicon material is used to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. Tritium is radioactive.

[Trovalor]

Emits Beta Particles which can be blocked fairly easily, a thin layer of solid (not porous) aluminum will block it, and Beta Particles are only really harmful if ingested or inhaled. Assuming they take the same sort of precautions (if not more so) than todays acid filled batteries, I have confidence they could produce a battery that is safe and effective.

Main Issue I've seen brought up about this is the fact that while it can produce electricity for 30 years, how long until the half life decay of the battery drops to the point where it can't continue to power your laptop (or other device). However considering that most laptops themselves only last what, 5 years? then maybe its not as much of an issue.

[DesertFox]

Mighty poorly-written article, chockful of grammatical errors.

[Beowulf]

Envirowacko's will probably love this idea,
Sure they will...until it's time to dispose of it. Then it's evil, bad for the enviroment, etc, etc.

[gnome]

If I may attempt to be an enviro-nonwacko, I think it's awesome. Now they just need to invent the cordless extension cord.

[DoctorDoom]

The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source.I note that a specific radioisotope is not named. However, this page lists some possibilities.

Introduction to Betavoltaic Technology (http://betavoltaic.com/betavoltaic.html)

And before accepting the hopelessly inflated estimates in the article of the OP, look over this page. It puts the website into perspective.

Free Energy Index (http://www.nextenergynews.com/freeenergy/freeenergyindex101-120.html)

The use of the terms "perpetual motion" and "over-unity" speaks volumes.

A realistic expectation for useful power for the battery is ten years. One minus is that as the radioisotope decays, its power level decreases. At the half-life point, the output is 50%. At the next one, it's 25%. Etcetera. Another drawback is that even when the power is not being used, it is being generated, ergo wasting it.

The use of short half-life radionuclides will give more power per unit mass than long-lived ones, but with the inevitable consequence of being more radioactive and therefore unlikely to be used for civilian applications.

Lastly, the power draw of a typical laptop is high enough that a betavoltaic battery using a fairly safe radioisotope would most likely not fit in it, and would probably be bigger than the laptop.

It's thus a "show me" technology.

[Trovalor]

I agree its still at the "show me" phase. Seem like there is good potential but also many issues that would need to be worked out.

Like the constant/draining power issue, one possibility is to simply have the battery hooked to a capacitor of sorts. The battery constantly charges the capacitor while the capacitor feeds the rest of the system. Even when the battery has depleted its still functional since it serves primarily to keep the capacitor charged.

Then of coarse is the fact that because it does have a radioactive substance inside (but then again so do most smoke detectors), many people will be too paranoid to want them.

Finally of coarse is the possibility that if they would be really successful, the battery company could just buy all the rights to the technology and bury it to prevent themselves from being made obsolete.

[DoctorDoom]

Like the constant/draining power issue, one possibility is to simply have the battery hooked to a capacitor of sorts. The battery constantly charges the capacitor while the capacitor feeds the rest of the system. Even when the battery has depleted its still functional since it serves primarily to keep the capacitor charged.You are now dealing with a capacitor in the multi-farad (if not the kilofarad) range. Although multi-farad caps have been made (Maxwell Technologies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercapacitor) offers them up to 3000 farads), one with the capacity to power a laptop for even an hour can't be made small enough to be built into the laptop.

Then of coarse is the fact that because it does have a radioactive substance inside (but then again so do most smoke detectors), many people will be too paranoid to want them.The smoke detector has 0.2 milligram of Americium-241, which could be carried around for years without causing the slightest problem—one reason being that it's an alpha-emitter, and alpha particles will be stopped by paper, cloth, etc.

A battery capable of powering a laptop or any substantial load would use many grams of the radioisotope, and that poses a clear danger if the unit is damaged enough to expose the contents. This is the primary reason why betavoltaic batteries will most likely never be found in consumer devices.

Finally of coarse is the possibility that if they would be really successful, the battery company could just buy all the rights to the technology and bury it to prevent themselves from being made obsolete.Inasmuch as the mythical battery company would stand to make big bucks by selling "real successful" products, why would they want to bury it? That smacks of the legendary pill that turns water into gasoline that Big Oil bought to protect its profits.

I have no doubt that very efficient betavoltaic batteries will be made, but you'll not see them in consumer products. They would be ideal for military use, space applications or remote equipment far away from the grid.

[Rhino]

Emits Beta Particles which can be blocked fairly easily, a thin layer of solid (not porous) aluminum will block it, and Beta Particles are only really harmful if ingested or inhaled.I was just pointing out the inconsistency in the article.