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$4 Million Goes to MIT from French Oil Company for Solar Energy Battery Project

November 7, 2009 By 5 Comments
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Total, a French oil company, recently agreed to give the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $4 million for a 5-year research project to develop stationary batteries that can more efficiently store solar energy.

More efficient energy storage has been a difficult issue for scientists to crack. It is a major issue preventing more widespread use of renewable energy, and solar energy in particular.

Is this project, one funded by a true oil giant, the one that will make it happen?

Total is giving this funding as part of MIT’s Energy Initiative, which Total joined one year ago — November, 2008. Director of the MIT Energy Initiative program, Ernest Moniz, thinks that this may be the big financial boost that is needed to greatly improve battery efficiency. “Total’s support for research in the storage of solar energy has the potential to be a game-changer,” he said.

The main goal of the project is to create batteries that are low-cost and long-living.

Total’s Interest in Solar Power Technology

Total is the world’s fifth-largest publicly traded oil and gas company. However, it is not new to the world of solar energy. It has been active in this sector since 1983. That is when it acquired an interest in “Tenesol, a company that specializes in manufacturing and operating photovoltaic energy systems, and Photovoltech, a manufacturer of solar cells based on a crystalline silicon technology.” It has also been the largest shareholder of Konarka, a US start-up company in Massachusetts specializing in organic photovoltaic technology, since December of 2008.

If you look at Total’s entire pie for research and development, however, this is a small project. Total has a budget of €770 million ($1.137 billion) for R&D in 2009 alone. Additionally, its partnership with MIT is only one of over 600 (with research organizations, universities and manufacturers) worldwide. Nonetheless, it may be a very important one for solar power and all the things related to that!

MIT Projects Trying for Energy Storage Breakthroughs

This is the second major MIT-initiated project that is trying to create a breakthrough in energy storage for solar power. Daniel Nocera, an MIT professor, is looking to mass-produce a breakthrough energy storage technology that splits water as well. We’ll have to see which of these projects has the biggest effect on solar power usage as time unfolds the future.

Related Stories:

1) MIT Professor: Power Your House With 5 Liters of Water Per Day

2) Solar Energy Breakthrough: Goal of MIT Team

3) MIT Energy Storage Discovery Could Lead to ‘Unlimited’ Solar Power

Image Credit 1: Slightlynorth via flickr under Creative Commons license

Image Credit 2: Leans via flickr under a CC license

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About Zachary Shahan

If you couldn't guess, I spend most of my time on CleanTechnica and Planetsave. I'm the director/editor of both sites and am a little obsessed with them. I'm also Publishing Services Manager at Important Media, which means that I do everything I can to support other Important Media writers, editors, and directors (as well as the network as a whole) in the good work they are engaged in. You can also find my written work on Scientific American, Reuters, Change.org, and most of the sites in the Important Media network. For a full list of my author pages on sites around the internet, or to connect with me on common social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com

  • Uncle B

    Google, torrent, the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car” Study it and weep! Humanity is plagued by corporatists and ROI! They have the best battery ever developed, a NiMh battery buried by U.S. patent law! China on the other hand doesn’t recognize American patent claims – they have the Shanghai Taxi – a “Volt” knock-off, tested in over two years of service in Shanghai. Taxi service and still going strong! We have the Rav’s, totally electric, and doing in some cases over 140,000 miles on a single set of recyclable batteries, still taking charges daily! Even better batteries will come, but may be gobbled up by the American Military and classified “secret “ – not for the Patriots – just for their “defense”? This has already happened with a Depleted Uranium electric storage device? Is there a conspiracy? No! Just a bunch of corporatists protecting their current investments at all costs, and they are also threatened by China’s lack of respect for their prime tool of survival – U.S. patent laws, without them, safe investment is not possible, and the whole system breaks down – Chinese buy knock-off illegal copies of Windows 7 on the streets of Shanghai today, for little more than the cost of making the copy – with impunity! U.S. patent law not enforced at all! China also copies car makes and models – they have a Mercedes knock-off that rivals the original! We pay for the research – as vital part of human progress – they steal it! no charge! WTF! Do they do any research? Do we steal their developments? Hell no! they haven’t any! They wait for us to pay for the research, development, then steal it! Question: Why do we allow this folly? Why is China exempt from development costs? Oil companies try to tie up developments for self-protection, China steals flagrantly all we do develop! Is there a better system? We need it now!

  • Uncle B

    Google, torrent, the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car” Study it and weep! Humanity is plagued by corporatists and ROI! They have the best battery ever developed, a NiMh battery buried by U.S. patent law! China on the other hand doesn’t recognize American patent claims – they have the Shanghai Taxi – a “Volt” knock-off, tested in over two years of service in Shanghai. Taxi service and still going strong! We have the Rav’s, totally electric, and doing in some cases over 140,000 miles on a single set of recyclable batteries, still taking charges daily! Even better batteries will come, but may be gobbled up by the American Military and classified “secret “ – not for the Patriots – just for their “defense”? This has already happened with a Depleted Uranium electric storage device? Is there a conspiracy? No! Just a bunch of corporatists protecting their current investments at all costs, and they are also threatened by China’s lack of respect for their prime tool of survival – U.S. patent laws, without them, safe investment is not possible, and the whole system breaks down – Chinese buy knock-off illegal copies of Windows 7 on the streets of Shanghai today, for little more than the cost of making the copy – with impunity! U.S. patent law not enforced at all! China also copies car makes and models – they have a Mercedes knock-off that rivals the original! We pay for the research – as vital part of human progress – they steal it! no charge! WTF! Do they do any research? Do we steal their developments? Hell no! they haven’t any! They wait for us to pay for the research, development, then steal it! Question: Why do we allow this folly? Why is China exempt from development costs? Oil companies try to tie up developments for self-protection, China steals flagrantly all we do develop! Is there a better system? We need it now!

  • john galt

    Are there strings attached to the money? In particular, who has the intellectual rights to any breakthroughs? If alternative energy is to compete with the devil’s vomit, (don’t ask what coal is) key ingredients still need to be invented, and kept away from people who would bury them.

  • john galt

    Are there strings attached to the money? In particular, who has the intellectual rights to any breakthroughs? If alternative energy is to compete with the devil’s vomit, (don’t ask what coal is) key ingredients still need to be invented, and kept away from people who would bury them.

  • john galt

    Are there strings attached to the money? In particular, who has the intellectual rights to any breakthroughs? If alternative energy is to compete with the devil’s vomit, (don’t ask what coal is) key ingredients still need to be invented, and kept away from people who would bury them.

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