An interesting investment or a foolish gamble

If you like to try your luck at the casinos in Vegas and also secretly hope to see a major green revolution take place in the near term you can take a position on both today. How? Buy ZENN stock (ZNNMF). ZENN, for those of you who don’t know, has been in the business of making zero-emissions vehicles but recently decided to change tact and now is focusing exclusively on an electric drive train that they plan on selling to Ford, Toyota and other major manufacturers. The ace up their sleeve? Their intimate relationship with EEStor a company that few know well but who is making some fairly audacious claims in the ultra-capacitor marketplace.

An “ultra-capacitor” is similar to battery technology in that it stores energy but rather than using a chemical process it stores electricity on it’s surface. A capacitor (even an ultra-capacitor) is typically characterised as possessing very high power-density (aka, power can be moved into and deployed out of very quickly) but very low energy-density (aka, stored energy on a per mass or per volume basis is very low). See the chart below to see this historic relationship with other technologies. It’s true that ultra capacitors are gaining greater energy density through nano-technologies but what EEStor is claiming would be a huge jump from anything else in the market. If believed, the EEStor technology would not only revolutionise motive transport but also the whole power industry (peak shaving, reduced spinning reserve, more economic and new power switching and quality devices, etc.)

EEStor’s ownership structure is not completely clear but it appears the two biggest holders are Kleiner Perkins (20%) and ZENN (12%). Even without the ownership stake it appears ZENN’s fate is highly correlated with EEStor’s. Admittedly I’d prefer to take the gamble directly with EEStor but as that option isn’t available to the public I think I’ll take a punt on ZENN. What do you think? Smart bet? Interesting gamble? Easy way to lose money?

Here’s a few links to help you decide:

[a few over-enthusiastic investors]  [news on ZENN’s April run-up on prices]

[more news on ZENN]  [more news on EEStor]

A “non-electric” plug-in hybrid?

Kleiner Perkins hints at plug-in car launch this week and they have said it “it is not an electric vehicle” and then said “do not think batteries”. My guess? It IS an electric car but it doesn’t use batteries. I mean what other kind of propulsion system would the car run on? It’s really annoying but modern vernacular confuses automotive propulsion with energy storage with regularity. For instance, a “hydrogen fuel cell” car IS an electric car … it just uses H2 as is energy storage and a fuel cell to convert it to electricity.

My guess is that this car in fact does use a fuel cell technology -- possibly hydrogen fuel cell -- and the real breakthrough is that they’ve come up with a more efficient way of using on-board electrolysis to make hydrogen gas (or whatever gas the fuel cell consumes). If that is true and the economics of this storage system compete with battery technology that could have a huge impact on the automotive field.

A great book on sustainable energy

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potential different sustainable energies can help to move us away from our dependence on a hydrocarbon-based (aka, non-sustainable) energy economy. This book doesn't explore the economic or moral angles to energy or environment but instead by focusing on clear and quantitative data it helps the reader to clearly understand the true limits and potentials that certain technologies have in providing a greener future. This information should be mandatory reading for all citizens who vote on alternative energy legislation.

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