Dr. Pieter van Pelt proposes charging Aluminum batteries from cheap green energy produced in Iceland. Then the batteries are shipped to any location in the world and discharged in a power grid. The empty batteries go back to Iceland for recharging. Here's the logic:



Aluminum batteries "are being developed by Europositron in Finland. They claim the following specifications for their technology:



Energy density : 2100 W.h/litre or 1330 W.h/kgr



Cycle times : 3000+ cycles



Working temperatures : -40 C to +70 C



Lifetime battery : 10 to 30 years



Let's assume, we equip a large ship with 200 giant batteries, each the size of a 40 foot shipping container. Each battery will weigh about 220 tons, so a 50,000 BRT ship can carry these. The batteries are charged fully in Iceland, making use of cheap electricity from hydropower or geothermal power. The 200 batteries will contain about 50 GW.h electricity when fully loaded. The ship (electrically powered of course) sails to the west coast of Denmark or England, or to the East coast of the USA. There it delivers its electrical charge into the national grid, but it keeps some batteries charged for the return trip to Iceland. It sails back and charges again. It can do so 3000 times before the batteries are worn out and must be replaced. A simple calculation shows that the electricity can be delivered at the end market for a very low price, roughly 20 to 25 Euro per MW.h (substantially below residential rates of 45 to 50 Euro per MW.h). The trick is, of course, that large quantities of hydropower or geothermal power in Iceland are very cheap (roughly 12 to 15 Euro per MW.h), that transportation of bulk goods over sea is very cheap (hence the economy of processing bauxite ore from New Zealand in Iceland to make Aluminum ingots), and the large investment in Al-batteries has an extended lifetime (3000 or more cycles). "



http://www.batteriesdigest.com/batteries_aluminum.htm



http://www.europositron.com/en/info.html

