Looks like the Saudis were not able to keep our hero down:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/01/new-crystalline.html#more

"A team of researchers from Stanford University and Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, led by Stanford professor Yi Cui, have developed a core-shell design of crystalline-amorphous (c-a) silicon nanowires (NW) to enable higher power and longer-life lithium-ion battery electrodes.

The good news is that he's still working on nanowires for batteries. The bad news is that he's not set on the chemical makeup of them and they are still talking about cycle life numbers in the 100's. That is only about 3 months of life for a car battery.

So, it looks like we are at least 5 years away from even seeing a working prototype, if things improve from now on. Perhaps he's being distracted by all those fine Saudi ladies in the King's harem? ;)

Perhaps he's being distracted by all those fine Saudi ladies in the King's harem? ;)

Actually you would think it was King Abdullah who was distracted in the harem when the king was told that he can have shiploads of nano-wire batteries getting charged in the port of Jeddah and then sail to Europe to feed the grid.

The idiocy of these m u s l i m caliphs is beyond comprehension.

Actually you would think it was King Abdullah who was distracted in the harem when the king was told that he can have shiploads of nano-wire batteries getting charged in the port of Jeddah and then sail to Europe to feed the grid.

The idiocy of these m u s l i m caliphs is beyond comprehension.





I didn't even think about that! Let's assume that EEscam-like devices become reality (like the silicon nanowire device). OPEC nations still have those huge oil tankers that need to be used. They can either sink them in the ocean for coral reefs or load them up with energy storage devices like liquid hydrogen tanks, batteries, ultracaps, etc.

Brilliant! Just have their deserts covered with solar panels to charge up these tankers. When they are full they sail to countries that lack renewable energy resources.

I have always thought this would be done with liquid hydrogen in those special ships but the floating battery concept would also work great, especially if the charge and discharge times were reasonable.

As a side project I would like to see one of these supercaptankers rigged up to accept the charge from a lightning bolt. Might have another way to get some free energy.