Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When a group of engineers and researchers gathered in a warehouse in Mukilteo, Wash., 10 years ago, they knew they were onto something big. They scrounged up tables and chairs, cleared out space in the parking lot for experiments and got to work.
They were building a battery — a vanadium redox flow battery — based on a design created by two dozen U.S. scientists at a government lab. The batteries were about the size of a refrigerator, held enough energy to power a house, and could be used for decades. The engineers pictured people plunking them down next to their air conditioners, attaching solar panels to them, and everyone living happily ever after off the grid.
But that's not what happened. Instead of the batteries becoming the next great American success story, the warehouse is now shuttered and empty. All the employees who worked there were laid off. And more than 5,200 miles away, a Chinese company is hard at work making the batteries in Dalian, China.
The Chinese company didn't steal this technology. It was given to them — by the U.S. Department of Energy. First in 2017, as part of a sublicense, and later, in 2021, as part of a license transfer. An investigation by NPR and the Northwest News Network found the federal agency allowed the technology and jobs to move overseas, violating its own licensing rules while failing to intervene on behalf of U.S. workers in multiple instances.
The agency issued the license, and Yang launched UniEnergy Technologies. He hired engineers and researchers. But he soon ran into trouble. He said he couldn't persuade any U.S. investors to come aboard.
"I talked to almost all major investment banks; none of them (wanted to) invest in batteries," Yang said in an interview, adding that the banks wanted a return on their investments faster than the batteries would turn a profit.
Long-term investment just isn't part of the DNA of our financial sector. This is why China is winning.
I know this subforum is all about getting angry at someone. Well if you skipped the article, the people you should be angry at are short sighted Americans who decided this technology isn't worth investing in. If you want to feel comfortable following your existing world view, then get angry at the Chinese.
I know this subforum is all about getting angry at someone. Well if you skipped the article, the people you should be angry at are short sighted Americans who decided this technology isn't worth investing in. If you want to feel comfortable following your existing world view, then get angry at the Chinese.
not a single poster has expressed anger at the chinese in this thread, but i can certainly see why you chose your username
sound like no one in US want to invest in th manufacture of the battery, but china did, basically they bought the license to manufacture it. Nothing illegal on that, its basically a screw up from DOE side.
just because its working in lab, doesn't mean it can commercialized, in this case china saw the opportunity and seize it with $$$.
we did a half way job and lost the opportunity.
also not all successful lab result can be commercialized, therefore some company may not want to take the risk.
in order to keep the tech edge we need to have subsidized certain tech sector such as chip, because china is also doing that. of course most american dont want to subsidized private companies.
the downside in R&D is you could spend millions or billions but may not get the result you want, or it can only work in labs.
Last edited by s002wjh; 08-04-2022 at 07:23 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
