ZPEnergy.com - Will Your Future Car Pay for Itself?

by Mark Goldes, Chairman & CEO, Magnetic Power, Inc.

Introduction
A revolutionary energy technology has been born. In the not-too-distant future, it will be capable of turning parked cars into power plants. Imagine owning a car that pays for itself, by selling electricity to the local utility while parked. GENIE™ (Generating Electricity by Nondestructive Interference of Energy) will be able to replace engines and power vehicles. Electricity generated by GENIE, when cars, trucks and busses are parked, can become a source of income to individuals and revenue to organizations.

The basic concept, of providing electricity to the power grid from parked automobiles, known in the utility industry as Vehicle to Grid (V2G) power, has long been investigated for plug-in hybrid automobiles and has been anticipated for fuel cells if and when they are widely utilized in vehicles. Google and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. cooperated in a power feed to the grid demonstration this past April, utilizing a modified plug-in hybrid Prius. V2G will be a major application of MPI’s GENIE power generation technology. What better incentive exists to combat climate change and dramatically reduce oil importation?

Every week or so, in China a coal plant goes online somewhere in the country. Chinese air pollution is already reaching the West coast of the USA. Climate scientists have stated that our planet has less then ten years to a tipping point, when burning fossil fuel will have caused irreversible, catastrophic problems. A UN Report warns that 50 million people could be displaced in a decade and hundreds of millions of lives lost by 2050. The time has clearly arrived for urgent and profound change.

Solar, wind, and non-food based biofuels all can make contributions. Nuclear plants, which typically take a decade to begin operation, cannot realistically be implemented rapidly enough to impact this worldwide emergency.

Producing Electricity from an Energy Source Never Before Commercialized

GENIE, under development by Magnetic Power, Inc., is a new type of generator that can be constructed both with and without moving parts. Solid-state GENIE modules can be scaled down to replace batteries. Small variations will be able to power cell phones and other electronic devices. They can also be scaled up to run cars. Unlike batteries they do not need to be recharged. Large GENIE generators will be capable of producing one Megawatt, or more, and can be utilized by energy hungry industries as well as power plants.

Discussions have already begun with a potentially large Strategic Partner, to Joint Venture a production version of a 1 kW GENIE Module, measuring perhaps 5” x 5” x 16”, about the size of a 12 pack of soda. Energy density will improve as development proceeds. When larger units emerge from the laboratory, GENIE generators powerful enough to power a car are expected to occupy no more space than a present day automotive fuel tank. These GENIE units are likely to provide 75 kW and more.

A power company executive once stated that if cars, using new technology that would supersede fossil fuels, could be designed to generate an average of 75 kW (100 hp) – the utility he worked for would shut down all of their coal burning and nuclear power plants and instead purchase electricity from parked automobiles. MPI’s GENIE intends to make that possibility a reality.

GENIE generates electricity without the need for fuel or any connection to a conventional outside energy source. Experiments have repeatedly demonstrated that the effect is real. Further engineering is all that remains necessary to make this remarkable discovery a permanent, cost-competitive, source of power. Scientists may eventually conclude GENIE is converting atomic magnetism, quantum coherence, or electron spin; terms which are presently quite far from the present-day alternative-energy vernacular of solar and wind. The question of where this energy comes from may be debated for some years. It may prove to be energy from the quantum vacuum, sometimes known as Zero Point Energy.

These novel systems -- inherently cost effective and potentially near-term, presently fall outside of accepted science. However, independent tests will soon begin to convince the scientific community of the reality of GENIE, a new type of energy conversion system. That process will inevitably accelerate.

The Present Power Paradigm

Utilities typically generate power in large plants, often 1,000 Megawatts or more. Long transmission lines are usually needed to carry the electricity produced many miles to the wall socket in a home or business.

Distributed Generation facilities at the point of use are slowly coming on line as an alternative. Although sometimes solar powered, they are often engines or microturbines requiring fuel, usually generating between 5 and 500 kW.

By far the majority of power plants presently burn coal, oil or natural gas. Renewables, such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, etc. presently contribute a minor percentage to the total. Nuclear plants provide most of the remainder.

Cars Inherently Contain a Power Plant

A typical automobile has an engine capable of producing substantial power. On average perhaps 100 hp (75 kW). However, in so doing, it consumes fuel and produces pollution. Therefore we have no desire to utilize existing cars as sources of power to the utility grid.

In recent years, car makers have looked at several alternatives. Hybrid electric vehicles are rapidly gaining in popularity. Equipping such hybrids, or completely electric cars such as the Tesla Roadster, with a large complement of Lithium based batteries and the capability of recharging from a wall socket at night is an emerging trend. Modest amounts of V2G power could be fed to the grid from cars suitably equipped. However, a worldwide shortage of Lithium is currently forecast, ironically, just as widespread use of batteries based on that highly reactive metal are beginning to be used to power automobiles.

Hybrid cars presently utilize a fuel burning engine. However, in designs such as the Chevrolet VOLT, the engine does not power the car directly, but is used to recharge the batteries of an electric drive system. GM has recently announced accelerated efforts to replace the need for an engine with a fuel cell. Fuel cells are similar to a battery that is continuously recharged by a fuel. In most cases the fuel is hydrogen. Service stations will need to be equipped to supply hydrogen on a widespread basis. This will require a multi-billion dollar infrastructure expenditure. Widespread distribution cannot be put in place rapidly.

A Program to Turn Cars into Power Plants that Sell Power when Parked

A large electric power utility has begun to evaluate GENIE. A huge steel company, that supplies steel to the auto makers is also interested. They hope GENIE might revive the auto firms and thereby the market for their steel. The auto industry is invited to evaluate GENIE. Increased levels of support will rapidly accelerate development. Given the problems of oil importation and climate change, it seems reasonable to move the necessary engineering and technical work onto an around the clock 24/7 schedule.

Next year MPI plans modify a car that has been converted to a plug-in hybrid, by substituting a pair of 1 kW GENIE prototypes. This will demonstrate that GENIE can eliminate the need to plug-in. Every automobile manufacturer examining such a simple demonstration will readily see the potential to eliminate the need for connecting to the grid or recharge batteries. Many power plants burn coal or oil, thus the positive environmental impact of the GENIE alternative will be immediately obvious.

Since GENIE will be capable of replacing batteries, the need for Lithium cells will be superseded. The problems that have occurred with Lithium in laptops need no elaboration. In addition, a shortage of Lithium looms. GENIE requires no exotic materials. GENIE can reasonably be expected to outlast the life of the vehicle.

GENIE will be developed to replace any need for engines or fuel cells. GENIE modules will be designed to provide the power required for performance identical to present production automobiles. A few, off-the-shelf, ultracapacitors can be employed to provide acceleration, as well as capture regenerative energy when braking.

General Motors recently announced it is putting 500 technical people into an accelerated fuel-cell development program. This is in addition to 150 more in their research laboratories. The goal appears to be completion of that program within six years. A massive effort to provide distribution of hydrogen fuel in a few cities will apparently be born in parallel.

With a similar commitment of resources, it presently appears that GENIE could be ready for mass production in cars in an even shorter time frame.

The Coming Automotive Power Production Revolution

Cars as mobile power plants will provide many advantages. They can be coupled to the electric utility grid with a plug, or inductively coupled by means of specially equipped parking spaces in public garages, parking lots and even on streets and in homes. Inductive coupling would require no wires between the car and the parking space.

Photovoltaic systems provide examples of several technical problems that formerly existed in connecting a new source of power to the grid. These difficulties have been overcome during the past few decades. Most utilities can now readily accommodate homes and business establishments with solar panels on the roof. Some power companies purchase the surplus power produced. Others run the meter backwards.

Disasters such as hurricanes, ice storms, tornados and earthquakes cause major power failures. Ordinary storms and falling trees also cause blackouts. When large numbers of vehicles feed power to the grid, while parked, any and all such events will cause fewer and less lengthy power interruptions.

Terrorist attacks on power plants and distribution systems are a little discussed, but ever present threat. Damage can much more readily be minimized with a decentralized power grid, purchasing electricity from thousands of GENIE powered cars, trucks and busses while they are parked.

Parking lots could become power substations. Many will be capable of providing several Megawatts of electricity when fully occupied.

Let’s Accelerate the Process

The MPI program has begun being explored by a large steel manufacturer and the first cooperating electric power utility. Accelerating the necessary development can restore the domestic auto industry and give the nation and the economy a much needed boost. Government and the remainder of the world’s auto manufacturers will inevitably follow.

Once cars equipped with fuel-free GENIE modules become available, how many consumers will want to purchase a vehicle that consumes fuel?

China, India and the remainder of the developing world, aspire to attain our standard of living. At the moment, the route they are following will massively accelerate climate change. The rapid evolution of this remarkable new technology can transform that problem into an entrepreneurial opportunity.

Thomas Friedman, in a recent article in the NY Times, considering the huge energy consumption demanded as the developing world industrializes, called for “a transformational technological breakthrough in the energy space.” We believe GENIE is that breakthrough.

Imagine parking garages in major cities with signs out front that say: "Park Here - We Pay More" – reversing, in a single stroke, several of the assumptions we make about energy and vehicles in the process.

© 2007 Magnetic Power Inc. All rights reserved. 9-24-07 An earlier version of this article was last revised 7-14-07.
Website: www.magneticpowerinc.com Contact: magneticpower@gmail.com Phone: 707 829-9391

Is GENIE the answer to Dr. Rice's call for a technological revolution? Maybe a better question would be: is Condo brave enough to challenge/help Mark prove his GENIE concept, and (possible) save the world... but certainly change it forever? [Vlad]