Rechargeable Batteries News From Australia

Most consumers think that the motivation behind developing new rechargeable battery technology is simply to make longer-landing, more sustainable mobile energy. And for the most part, that's true. Particularly in our new "mobile" world, where gadgets like the iPad, iPhone, digital cameras, mobile phones, and laptops are becoming virtual extensions of our own selves, the need for lightweight, reliable, sustainable rechargeable batteries is crucial to the marketplace.

However, environmental concerns have always been a secondary issue for battery technology.

All batteries, no matter how green they may be, are harmful to the environment. the first iteration of battery technology -- the alkaline battery -- is the worst of all because, not only is the alkaline formula extremely bad for the environment -- because alkalines are disposable, they get thrown away at alarmingly high rates, thus increasing the density of alkaline pollution in landfills (which ultimately affects soil and drinking water quality).

Then, rechargeable batteries -- NiCD or "nicads" as they are more commonly known -- offered a slightly less polluting battery design, simply by virtue of the fact that rechargeable batteries last much longer than an alkaline, and thus don't get thrown away nearly as often. The problem, however, is that the cadmium is a NiCd rechargeable battery is highly toxic -- every bit as bad as the alkaline formula, if not worse. Cadmium is particularly damaging to humans and can cause cancer.

It is for this reason that NiMH and LiOn rechargeable batteries have been so welcome to the rechargeable battery market: their high performance, low cost, and minimal impact on the environment is a far cry from the days when consumers could only choose either disposable alkaline or rechargeable NiCD.

Now, there is yet another player in the rechargeable batteries market: the Lithium Sulfur, or Li-S rechargeable battery. People are very excited about this new development in the wake of a recent test of the QinetiQ Zephyr, an unmanned, solar-powered aircraft that recently broke all of the records for non-stop unmanned flight, using an Li-S rechargeable battery.

The belief is that Li-S will now eventually replace the LiOn batteries in hybrids and electric cars.

However, no one has yet to look into the potential environmental hazards that a sulfur-based rechargeable battery might pose. The damaging effects of sulfur is well documented -- particularly sulfur dioxide as an air pollutant. The sulfur used in the Li-S rechargeable battery formula will most certainly impact both ground water and soil quality in and around landfill areas, much moreso that traditional LiON and NiMH technology.

So, before the world is ready to abandon NiMH and LiON rechargeable batter technology, we should first be ready to measure the environmental impact of the Li-S.  

I was recently surfing the rechargeable battery news and came upon a story from ubergizmo.com about how someone had recently "hacked" one of the new Apple trackpads so that it runs on USB power instead of NiMH rechargeable batteries. It got me to thinking about how amazing it is that someone is actually hacking an Apple product. That's a rare thing! Usually it's the PC World that gets hacked, alla the infamous "Hackintosh" PC.

The story also recalls a review I wrote about the new Apple Battery Charger that recently hit the market with the usual Apple fanfare and hype machine. Even though they didn't use one of their patented "This Changes Everything" taglines, Apple has come into the rechargeable batteries market swinging.

Of course, the real motivation behind Apple's decision to produce a battery charger is to double dip on their new wireless trackpad and other computer gadgets, all of which call for NiMH rechargeable batteries. By branding a new battery charger with the Apple logo, Apple hopes to sell them like hot cakes, up-selling folks online who are investing in a trackpad for their iMac or PowerMac.

If you read the review of the Apple Battery Charger, you'll learn in detail of how Apple is boasting of its battery charger being the "greenest" battery charger of its kind on the market today, citing some stats that the average battery charger outputs 274 mW of power in a day when it is plugged in but not charging batteries, whereas the Apple battery charger only outputs 30 mW of power. This sounds like reassuring evidence that the Apple battery charger is indeed "green," right?

Not necessarily.

The fact is, the new Apple battery charger lacks a LED indicator -- it's nothing more than travel battery charger that plugs directly into a wall. You really have no clue when your rechargeable batteries are done charging. Because of this, you're actually much more likely to keep the battery charger plugged in all of the time.

A "smart" charger, on the other hand, typically offers separate LED indicators for each battery when it is being charged, resulting in  more conditioned charge than what the Apple Battery Charger offers. and because other smart chargers let you know when batteries are done recharging, you can simply pull the battery charger out of the wall.

The Apple Battery Charger might have a standby output of 30mW, but any smart charger that is unplugged has an output of zero. 

What's more, at $39.00, the Apple Smart Charger actually costs the same as other name-brand smart chargers on the market.

Don't get me wrong: I love Apple products. But when it comes to rechargeable batteries, buying the Apple charger is basically just paying more money for less features and functionality in a smart charger -- all because it says "Apple" on it. You're much better off sticking with a smart charger.  

Since the big rechargeable batteries boom, Sanyo (of all companies) has managed to corner the market with its Eneloop brand of NiMH rechargeable AA and AA batteries. It's a strange occurrence if you know anything about electronics: Sanyo has always been that "cheaper electronics company that is trying to copy the name "Sony." They always sold the kind of walkmen and cheap radios that they sell behind the customer service desk in a grocery store.

Well, Sanyo showed them all, didn't they?

In fact, they developed their brand so well that they did what every other capitalist eventually does: they sold out. Panasonic bought them out in December, purchasing 50.2% of their shares for a cool $4.6 billion. Like the banking, auto, and a million other industry verticals, the rechargeable batteries market is getting more and more monolithic.

But believe it or not, this is going to actually be a good thing for the little guy.

Up until recently, Sanyo tightly controlled its Eneloop battery brand -- it was difficult to obtain the rights to resell them, and they were much too expensive for many mom-and-pop stores to carry them. As a result, many of the China-made NiMH rechargeable batteries -- such as Vapex -- became the only viable alternative to Eneloop.

However, Panasonic has made it clear that they will ease and expand the distribution of Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries into the marketplace. This means that indie resellers who were unable to "source" Sanyo Eneloops for resale will now be able to carry them.

This means that the smaller stores will be able to carry both Sanyo Eneloops as well as a cheaper China-based brand, giving customers a premium and generic choice when it comes to rechargeable batteries. And this, to be sure, is a good thing.

Batteries are one of those consumer products that get very little attention, even though they play such an increasingly vital role in our lives. As electronics continue to "go mobile," the need for reliable battery technology also continues.

The trick is -- batteries are generally not good for the environment, and disposable batteries are expensive and a real pain!

This is why rechargeable batteries have become such a big thing in the world today, and represent the most significant "leap forward" for battery technology since the invention of the 9 volt back in the 1950s. NiMH rechargeable batteries have become the standard for AA- and AAA-powered consumer electronics, while the Lithium Ion, or LiON as they are called, are becoming increasingly popular with mobile gadgets like the iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Amazon Kindle, and laptops.

This rise is rechargeable battery technology has led to improved, sustainable, renewable energy sources for electronics that don't pollute the environment nearly as much as a disposable battery, since you can use a rechargeable battery over and over again. they also tend to be much more convenience than disposable batteries, allowing gadget users to recharge batteries overnight as they sleep.

There is no doubt that the rechargeable batteries market is here to stay: worldwide sales of rechargeable batteries rose to $36 billion in 2008. and new forecasts indicate that the rechargeable battery market will grow to exceed $51 billion by 2013.

Since 2008, there has been a huge push from electronics companies to penetrate this new market. Brands like Sanyo Eneloop, Panasonic, Energizer, Duracell, and now even Apple have gotten into this business, raising the stakes for developing new rechargeable battery technology.

This is where we come in.

Our rechargeable batteries blog has fast become a leading source of reliable news, reviews, and opinions about rechargeable batteries and battery chargers, as well as the electronics and accessories that use them. Because this market is growing so quickly, so too must we keep up with all that is going on in the world of rechargeable batteries.

Even though rechargeable batteries may not be the "sexiest" thing to write about, we're pretty excited about them. We hope you can find the information and insight you are looking for here on our hub.