Journal Entry # 13

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/24-ultracapacitors-electric-vehicles

This article is about ultracapacitors and their entrants into the category of options for fuel-efficient applications. Currently used on small gadgets, capacitors typically do not store a lot of energy. Ultracapacitors on the other hand were created for the very purpose of being able to store more energy. Competing with other fuel-efficient technologies such as fuel cells and batteries, capacitors are able to store and release energy very quickly as opposed to its current counterparts.

Ultracapacitors however cannot store as much energy currently as batteries or fuel cells. Recently though, car companies have started testing capacitors on the road. These testing phases done by organizations including AFS, have begun to grow interest in these technologies. The ways of how to increase energy storage remains on of the biggest issues to overcome with capacitor use in application to powering larger pieces of technology requiring a substantial amount of energy.

In an article at Global Spec, it sheds light on the fact that the advancements in capacitors and increasing power storage are all contingent upon the fact of pulse engineering. The engineering of the pulse system of a capacitor, combined with the projected need of power storage can better help those who are aiming to eventually phase capacitor use into big technology items such as cars.

http://www.gaep.com/tech-bulletins/energy-storage-capacitors.pdf


I believe that enhancing the capacitor technology would give on more option in providing, healthier, earth-friendly, and more cost effective products for fuel and power. I do think however that as new technologies come out such as ultracapicitors, we must monitor just how cost-effective they are as well as earth-friendly. For instance, in alternative fuels, it is said that amount of gas it takes to produce ethanol is more than it would be to just use and equivalent gallon of gas to fuel a car. Also, ultracapicitors may take up more energy and produce more pollution being made and my offset any benefit was posed by it being more effective.