An angry lead-acid battery developer lashed out last week at one of the premier US lithium battery administrators on why the US Department of Energy (DoE) was failing to support the lead-acid sector.
Ed Shaffer (pictured), founder and CEO of Advanced Battery Concepts, took a verbal swipe at George Crabtree, director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) at Argonne National Laboratory, who was addressing the Battery Council International annual meeting on developments in lithium ion.
JCESR is tasked with increasing advanced battery energy density by a factor five at one-fifth of today’s cost, in five years. That time frame is nearly over. With less than a year to run, JCESR looks set to fall short of its goal and the cost time solution will probably leave today’s lithium-ion technology in the dust.
Responding to a question from the audience on what hope is there left for lead, Crabtree suggested that lead could be very interesting if it could solve the “sulfation problem”.
This is when Shaffer hit back, claiming the only source of funding had been his own retirement fund and private investors and that the DoE had effectively given its support to foreign lithium developers.
Crabtree’s response was muted, emphasising that JCESR’s legacy will be the creation of a series of tools to carry out modelling for the further development of future ionic couples and materials in pursuit of the Holy Grail, which it has not yet found. Whether its funding will be continued is also uncertain.