The Missing Zinc

Everything comes in threes, as we are to believe. There was the Trump Administration’s process of weeding out of all latches on climate change: coal-fired plants, vehicles tailpipes, and most recently methane leaks. Then, there was the states fortifying by the Paris climate accord: California’s “Buy Clean” law, Orlando, Florida’s solar panels, and now NantEnergy has unveiled its latest product in conjunction with the Climate Summit hosted in New York that could be one more potential alternative to the lithium-ion batteries, the faulty stuff used to power other technical developments, like electric cars and solar panels and wind turbines, then eventually broke down and caught fire (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). 

Looks nothing special but stores power at
far less than the cost of lithium-ions 

It was announced on Wednesday, September 26, that NantEnergy was publicizing their newest invention: a rechargeable battery that operates on a circuit board and zinc oxide, encased with plastic and shell components. Several people may not have heard much about the company, itself, but they should be familiar with their director, Patrick Soon-Shiong as the recent face of The Los Angeles Times or ‘that guy who was swimming in the billions he made from selling anti-diabetic and breast cancer narcotics and will soon be swimming in $50 billion more when the battery becomes up for grabs the next year’ (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4).   

Vindications of zinc’s potential as a microgrid system is founded upon NantEnergy recently taking their little experiment for a spin within 110 villages in Asian and African countries, as well as being installed on cellphone towers in the United States. The zinc-air battery’s design may not help it stand out from your ordinary rechargeable battery but its capabilities are beyond that of the lithium-ion. These villages lived off of these plastic shell casings of zinc and air by attaching them to solar arrays and they served better than the lithium-ion batteries (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). In fact, Sherif Abdelrazek, senior

Soon-Shiong says his company is the 

first to commercialize zinc air batteries 

Duke Energy engineer says they served so well, they may actually make a good replacement for the Duke Tower which means we’ll be looking at a new National Park Service soon on the Great Smoky Mountains where dozens of power lines used to be. Its recharged state feeds off reusable energy (zinc oxide converts to zinc and O2 during charge and reverts to zinc oxide during discharge) and lasts for up to 72 hours. Brother, the Carolinians sure could’ve used it when Hurricane Florence was running out there like public enemy #1 (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). The zinc air cells can be combined to make up a 10-cell module and can be stored in a cabinet specialized to hold 4 of them, making it possible to add and remove modules to adjust power and energy efficiencies in short timing. Soon-

Shiong developed the battery with support from the World bank and funding of $5 million from the United States Department of Energy and, my god, it was money well-spent. Who cares that those kowtowers at Wells Fargo had closed the Fried campaign’s account when they announced they were advocating for expansion of medical marijuana? Soon-Shiong can be considered a new face of Thomas Edison, only he’s not just supplying his own home with kilowatt. He’s lighting up the entire world (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). 

According to citations made by Soon-Shiong, in the United States, the world’s zinc reserves account for 5 percent and production for 7 percent. Half its reserves account for Australia and China which, equaling up to the per ton of steel produced in China, are both the largest producers. Dr.

The storage unit includes a circuit board and a zinc sulfur

 Narayan says lithium reserves are one-twentieth those of zinc and are not only almost the product of a wild goose chase but mining for lithium has been a danger to the health of miners in the areas where it is plentiful (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4).
The cost per kilowatt hour rises and falls in direct proportion with the scale and application of lithium, which could reach up to about $250, or $300, or $400 as estimated by Yogi Goswami, distinguished university professor and director of the Clean Energy Center at the University of South Florida, just like how he estimated storage advancements with solar and wind power in a congressional testimony which had ultimately been overshadowed by natural gas made plentiful by intentional venting and “flaring,” or burning of methane during drilling or fracking (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). Mark Cooper, senior research fellow for economic analysis at the Vermont Law School's Institute for Energy and the Environment, acknowledged that those days had receded like a dingy puddle in the Summer. Since the beginning of its development, the zinc-air battery had steadily dropped in price per kilowatt

hour and currently dropped below $100. $100 looks good on anything and it always did probably look dirt cheap on essentials for transforming

an electric grid into a 100 percent carbon free system. So, the sandspit out into the sea went two ways: to make the battery rechargeable, and to cheapen the energy-storage per kilowatt-hour to $100. It is a safe bet that the zinc-air battery became even more important and placed in direct competition with Telsa's lithium-ion technology when this happened, but aren't all bets safe since all forms of energy storage is becoming increasingly vital? After all, compressed air in caverns and the hydroelectric plant storages could be deemed as good alternatives as well. And who's ever bright idea it was to drag $3 billion out of a bank account to turn Hoover Dam into one gigantic battery to filter excess solar and wind energy is just another one of life's mysteries (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4).

NantEnergy plans to expand product to tele-

communications and home energy storage

Telsa's director, Elon Musk, will be able to compete with the latter with the help of two shareholders. Even so, Dr. Narayan cautioned us about confusing selective perception for process of elimination. He says that the results of Soon-Shiong’s citation only identified zinc reserves that will last about 25 years which doesn’t exactly equal the sufficient amount of zinc to see energy-storage through the next millennium (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). Plus, mining for zinc is really no safer than mining for lithium. The source is an ore of zinc sulfide and its other ingredients are a mixture of lead, candium and nickle and large-scale production can raise environmental issues. 

Dan Reicher said, as with lithium, the cost per kilowatt-hour of the zinc battery rises and falls in direct proportion with application and scale. Every energy company's technology lives under scrutiny and you have to get used to that idea. If Soon-Shiong was the one you told this to, he'd just grin confidently and change the subject: "We will be turning our attention to this market," he said. "It's huge, but probably 2020 for us" (The New York Times 09/272018, New Battery May Hold Promise To Create a Carbon-Free Grid, B1-B4). NantEnergy is currently anticipating an expansion of the product to telecommunication towers and home energy storage. As well as to transportation systems where the lithium-ions were the occasional letdowns: electrical cars, buses, trains, and scooter.