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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Sodium battery business is expected to bring 350 "green collar," clean technology jobs to upstate New York. (informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217400594)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/ge-loco.jpgCora Nucci - InformationWeek (informationweek.com) - May 12, 2009

We could really use hybrid locomotives - trains are highly efficient at moving freight. -- Ed.

New York state's manufacturing sector got a boost Tuesday from news that General Electric will build $100 million battery manufacturing facility in the Albany region.

The new business will create 350 "high-wage green-collar" jobs in the capitol region. It's to be partially funded by a $15 million New York state grant, and the company hopes, federal money. Next week, GE, with backing from U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, will apply for federal stimulus funds.

The high-energy-density sodium-metal-halide cell batteries are "very good for storing lots of energy in a small space," said Mark Little, senior VP and director of GE Global Research. He added that while the technology yields "great performance using common materials," it requires "a sophisticated manufacturing process," which has "over 30 patents on it."

The first application will be GE's hybrid locomotive. Heavy vehicles such as locomotives, buses, and off-highway trucks make up 10% of all vehicles in the United States but account for half of all fuel consumption.

Sodium battery technology will allow GE to introduce a hybrid, heavy-haul freight locomotive that reduces emissions while improving fuel efficiency. The company also has lined up mining, telecommunications, and utility customers. Key applications are heavy service vehicles, backup storage, and load leveling for the smart grid.

The most technologically interesting aspect of Tuesday's announcement may be the potential it holds for automotive batteries. If the power of lithium-ion batteries and the storage capability of sodium batteries were to be combined, they might yield a superior battery for hybrid cars...http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217400594

The most technologically interesting aspect of Tuesday's announcement may be the potential it holds for automotive batteries. If the power of lithium-ion batteries and the storage capability of sodium batteries were to be combined, they might yield a superior battery for hybrid cars.

I don't recall ever hearing about sodium batteries. This sounds interesting.

Harry

Aren't railroad locomotives diesel-electric locomotives as they stand now? I grew up in a railroad town and many of my friend's fathers worked in the engine shop. I've actually been though on a tour a locomotive shop on more than one occasion. The diesel "prime mover" generated the electricity that ran the "traction motors" on the "trucks" (wheel assemblies). The exception was Amtrak and commuter engines, which used to run at full throttle in order to also turn a gear driven generator to power the passenger cars. Hence why they were always so loud (though our newer Metra engines are quieter now). That was supposedly one of the big advantages of AC-powered locomotives, more heat but improved efficiency.

I haven't lived near a railroad hub for awhile, this is what I remember from several years back.

Mike

Hybrid's batteries help most when starting acceleration. I would think trains get up to speed, then keep going. I don't remember too many stoplights on train tracks. Though weight or size of the battery would not mean much on a train.

Wow!

Right out of the clear blue sky all of a sudden we have the sodium battery that is "very good for storing lots of energy in a small space???"

NOT.

Now that the "BIG 3/333 are headed down their own respective tubes, their grip on our economy is beginning to slip. Now we begin to see just what they have been doing to our country. They have;

1. Kept high MPG cars they themselves were making for Europe out of this country.
2. Kept the PHEV a vague concept car that will take years to develop.
3. Done everything in their power to dilute high MPG cars others have made so they do not get the mileage that the same cars get in Europe. Classic example, the VW Jetta.
4. With their cohorts in crime, the oil industry, they have price fixed the cost of diesel fuel for years to negate savings diesel engines offer so Americans wouldn't move toward them. Hell, they have been price fixing for years. That is what started our slide into recession!

Sodium batteries? Probably just another technology the big three could do without ("we don't need the competition") and have used their VERY POWERFUL SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS AND LOBBYING to quash.

Thank God Obama is taking them to task!!!

Check out Sodium-sulfur battery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium-sulfur_battery)

Apparently one application is storing energy from wind turbines so power generation from those farms will be more constant.

Sodium isn't new. It probably is the battery of choice for large batteries where size/weight isn't an issue. It doesn't have the energy density of other technologies, but has a better energy/cost ratio than most others.

Industry wind/solar systems that want to store their power electricly favor this technology. However its isn't clearly winning over other, non-electrical, means of storage.

--------------EDIT

Dang. Delta Flyer beat me...guess he got 1st to the pump 1st. That what I get for opening a bunch of windows and lettting them sit for a while :)

Sorry, Johnathan.

Ask the other moderators about how I deal with spammers. :D

I would think trains get up to speed, then keep going. I don't remember too many stoplights on train tracks.

Train tracks aren't at a zero grade everywhere. There are uphill grades and downhill grades, especially in mountainous terrain. A hybrid locomotive could take advantage of that.

Harry