The Peak Oil Crisis:A Disruptive Technology

Every now and again there comes along a new technology that changes civilization. Gunpowder, steam engines, electricity, internal combustion, nuclear energy, transistors, and the integrated computer circuits readily come to mind.

Looming just over the horizon is the possibility that another such disruptive technology may, and I emphasize may, be in the offing. This technology would be a capacitor with the ability to store large amounts of high-voltage electricity as a static charge in a relatively small and inexpensive device. No chemical reactions – just electrons in and electrons out.
Should such a technology become available, the implications would be immense for the worldwide production and use of energy. Starting with intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar, a cheap and reliable means of storing the electric power would make such sources far more useful. Electricity storage devices stationed along smart power distribution networks could lead to major efficiencies in the distribution of electrical energy; and inexpensive home storage devices could make rooftop solar and wind efficient, competitive with centralized generation of power.

The most immediate impact, however, could be on transportation. If a car or truck could be built at modest cost with a 250 mile all electric range, instantly rechargeable, and a long life, the automobile and petroleum industries would be transformed forever.

This of course all sounds too good to be true and skeptics that large paradigm-changing capacitors can be built abound. Here the matter would rest except for a small firm down in Texas called EEStor that from all indications has been working diligently on the development of a high-voltage, high energy density capacitor for several years.

Falls Church News Press