Along with another inventor, the Stamford resident came up with a product that promises to recharge batteries for cell phones and other devices from the heat that radiates from one”™s skin.
As President Obama makes alternative energy sources a cornerstone of his administration policy, Hines is not the only battery innovator in the tri-state region looking to plug into the opportunity. Already home to one of the nation”™s premier energy laboratories in the United States, New York is now attempting to energize its pipeline for battery technology startups.
In mid-March, the New York State Energy and Research Authority (NYSERDA) published plans to create a New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Consortium, in an attempt to create a cluster of companies and researchers in the sector.
The consortium would make grants to researchers and establish a centralized facility to test inventions as they are readied for commercialization. NYSERDA plans to formally announce BEST at the New York Energy Technology Summit next month, sponsored by NYSERDA, the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR) and the New York Academy of Sciences.
Several battery consortiums already exist at the national level, including the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium in Southfield, Mich., supported by the Big Three automakers; and the new National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture, which has yet to specify where it will be based.
While Connecticut has no such formal cluster, the state has its fair share of innovators like Hines, who could not be reached for comment to discuss her invention. They include the Bethel-based Duracell division of Procter & Gamble where a half-dozen researchers who live in Fairfield County have filed for patent protection on their inventions in the past year.
After supplying batteries for the Mars rovers, Pawcatuck, Conn.-based Yardney Technical Products Inc. won the contract to develop batteries for the Orion crew exploration vehicle, which is scheduled to replace the Space Shuttle next year in advance of planned lunar flights for 2020 and beyond. Yardney is also working on applying its technology for use in terrestrial, hybrid-electric vehicles.
And Fairfield-based General Electric Inc. has a cohort of battery experts at its massive research lab in Niskayuna, N.Y.
In addition, GE is one of a few local companies that have provided venture funding for battery startups in Massachusetts, which has a formidable cluster of developers. GE holds a significant stake in Watertown, Mass.-based A123 Systems Inc., which is developing batteries for electric vehicles. Westport-based Oak Investment Partners is an investor in Boston-Power Inc. of Westborough, Mass., which is readying lithium ion batteries for use in laptop computers and other devices.
New York hopes to give its best effort toward replicating Massachusetts”™ success, with an initial BEST workshop scheduled for April 20 to draft a more detailed plan before a planned initial meeting in June. BEST membership will be open to all New York-based organizations interested in the area.
New York is funding the BEST program with its share of proceeds from the federal Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) program, under which NYSERDA sells allowances for nitrogen oxide emissions. The administration of Gov. David Paterson anticipates BEST having an annual budget of between $20 million and $35 million.
The Obama administration has pledged $2 billion in grants and loans for research on vehicle batteries alone, according to a February study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The infusion comes too late for one entity ”“ Electro Energy Inc., a Danbury-based battery company which formally filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection from creditors in late March after abruptly ceasing operations last year. Only in 2007, Electro Energy had been cited by Frost & Sullivan for having a breakthrough technology for bipolar batteries, but failed in its attempts to commercialize the technology.
