UltraCapacitors, Flux-Capacitors and Shag Carpeting

Here's an interesting article on ultracapacitors and what challenges Honda faces in implementing them in its forthcoming FCX fuel cell vehicle.

Ultracapacitors are great at delivering or accepting power during short-duration events, can function well in temperatures as low as –40 ºC when batteries are at their worst, and don't degrade over thousands of charge-discharge cycles like traditional batteries do. It all sounds good, right? Well there is a serious downside to capacitors in general: at equivalent voltage, a chemical battery can store at least a million times as much energy as a conventional capacitor of the same size. Yikes!

An MIT researcher describes a breakthrough for ultracapacitors increased capacitance to be the ability to grow carbon nanotubes on the surface of the current collector. This process could theoretically create a device that could hold up to 50 percent as much electrical energy as a comparably sized battery. This carbon nanotube forest has been nicknamed "electric shag."

Looking at Honda's news release, however, it would appear that it is taking a more conventional approach and is increasing the number of wraps per electrode for a much more modest 10% improvement in storage capacity.

All I know about capacitors came from my old electronics class teacher who recited the story of a man who went poking around his unplugged microwave oven with a screwdriver. Needless to say, it was a hair raising experience.

It really is amazing to see all the developments that must take place as we look to wean ourselves from our current energy sources. I am looking forward to seeing Honda's FCX on the road.