The Battery Market Will Charge Ahead
The battery market, also known as the storage battery market, is big—and it's only going to get bigger between now and 2015.Batteries represent about $36 billion in revenues today and are expected to grow to more than $50 billion over the next five or so years, with rechargeable batteries leading the way.1.The hybrid vehicle battery, which accounts for 1.7% of the world's rechargeable market, is expected to grow to 4.2% of the market by 2013. This surge is based on conservative assumptions about hybrid car growth.
2.The ultracapacitor and fuel cell battery growth forecast may also be low, given potential technology/performance breakthroughs in the next few years.
3.Growth in renewable energy, like solar and wind power.will drive additional demand for storage capacity, especially with increased smart grid electricity deployment all over the world.
How do you think about Green Business. Do you think the green business will make profits for the companies? What about the consumers? Are the consumers willing to pay more to use renewable energy?Is Green Business will bring more effects to environment than to business?
I wonder what kind of scientific revelations will throw these predictions for a loop. I keep thinking of innovations like this one http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35605867/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/ where inventors have created a "perfect insulator" that allows no heat to diffuse through surfaces treated with it. It describes how a home could be heated simply by body heat. This of course has very little to do with batteries, but think about how revelations like this could turn batteries into something so much more. What if a chemical combination derived tommorow turns out to be the cheapest and most effective ever produced. Industrial innovation simply knocks me off my feet.
ReplyDeletePerhaps more so even than the oft-mentioned solar and wind technologies, there is much potential the fields of energy storage and transmission. Our current electrical grid contains a great deal of inefficiency. From the already inefficient power plants, electricity travels great distances and through multiple relays, meaning that the full potential of any energy source is poorly realized. Obviously, this needs to be pursued in tandem with clean energy production technology.
ReplyDeleteThe field of energy technology is an obvious area in need of governmental involvement. As natural monopolies, utility companies have little incentive to advance the technology they use beyond measures that would save them money. The only way to spur progress is through regulation and incentives from a government.
(A, E, T)
Yes, green business is a good thing but are people willing to pay the price. For example I was at Meijer last week to buy light bulbs. I was forced to choose between the .99 cent regular 40 watt bulbs and the $1.30 fluorescent bulbs. As a college student there was a greater opportunity cost in choosing the .99 cent bulbs. Green Business is a wonderful thing that more and more people are getting into but is the world ready to go completely "green." A,E
ReplyDeleteI think green business will profit for the company because it is necessary. Non-renewable resources are being used up and soon we'll HAVE to go green but regardless of that fact, I feel 'green is the new black'. It seems as though recycling and being eco-friend seems to be cool thing now-a-days. Perhaps I'm completly off on this statement, but more and more people are being 'green' and people are now more cautious about what they do and the repercussions it has on the eosystem
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with what swan said. One of the main things preventing us from switching over to alternative energy sources like solar and wind power is a lack of electrical transmission lines that could connect potential sites to places that need the electricity. An excellent place to sped some of the stimulus money would be in creating the long-distance transmission lines needed to do so.
ReplyDeleteIt may be sooner or later but people will eventually have to start using these green technologies. Oil and other natural gases are quickly depleting from the earth and something needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteI think some consumers will purchase these batteries (if they are affordable) because in the long run it might help to save money because they Are rechargeable; hence they don't need to be replaced. Most companies in the world are finding ways to go green because that's the direction in which the world is going. I am not sure about the case of the batteries but I know that most companies that have gone green are reaping the benefits.
For example, the video clip we watched in class about Monsanto and its organic and environmentally friendly pesticides was a multi-billion dollar companies and the biggest in the world of pesticide producers. I believe that Monsanto got that much success partly because of the fact that it advocated environmentally friendly products. I know that pesticides and batteries have different prices but I think the batteries may not be in high demand now but they will be in the long run. A