The search for the “holy grail for renewable energy and the golden elixir for grid resistance,” also known as a battery, was the topic on September 24. Panelists are John Bair, CEO of KAir Battery, LLC, Ram Sastry, director of distribution research & technology at AEP, Amul D. Tevar, OSU – Battelle joint appointee and Kate Bartter, interim director of the OSU Office of Energy and the Environment who will moderate the discussion. Bartter explained that batteries and technology for storing wind and solar power have been a prime goal for the past 15 – 20 years. If the wind stops blowing, the power stops running so wind and solar are an inherently unreliable power source due to the changing weather conditions. Harnessing solar and wind power for longer duration requires storage which could be obtained with batteries to store the energy but the technology is not up to the task of storing an adequate quantity to fit our growing electricity needs. A recently commercialized venture originating from OSU, is KAir Battery, a company that is using inexpensive and plentiful potassium to make batteries instead of lithium which is scarce and expensive. KAir was the 2014 Grand Prize Winner of the Ohio State University Business Plan Competition and the recipient of the Energy Department's Clean Energy Prize from the Rice Business Plan Competition. Bartter said KAir’s concept requires more research on this new technology but it could be game-changing. The other interesting aspect of the KAir battery is the fact that it’s non-toxic at the end of its use unlike standard batteries used commercially today. Environmental concerns are pushing battery technology as a way to reduce fossil fuel consumption and replace it will renewal energy options. This applies to electric utility companies and car manufacturers. These technological concepts are not new but, according to Bartter, are “getting closer to what people dream about.”

• published: 06 Oct 2014
• views: 3