IBM is to develop a next-generation rechargeable battery, capable of storing 10 times more energy than today’s top lithium ion batteries.

The new batteries could be used to power cars and smart energy grids, according to IBM.

The company will reveal details of the batteries at its Almaden Institute 2009 conference, which IBM said attracts “innovative thinkers” from academia,thinkpad t60 battery , government research labs and industry. The gathering will be held on August 26 and 27 at the IBM Almaden Research Centre in San Jose, California.

“High-density, scalable energy storage technologies are emerging as the greatest game changer for this new era of renewable energy sources and smarter grids,” said Sharon Nunes, vice president of IBM’s Big Green Innovations organisation, in a statement. “Today, the vast majority of the world’s oil is burned for transportation. Energy sources, IBM 40y6797, such as wind and solar power, fluctuate continuously. We believe the solution may lie in the development of an efficient, affordable energy storage network.”

IBM also will be using nanotechnology, along with materials science and super computing in the multi-year battery research project.

“Being able to store large amounts of electrical energy in a small package is critically important,” said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. “If we can’t get higher energy densities in our batteries,IBM 40y6799, then true electric cars are a non-starter.”

And Olds added that better IBM fru 92p1139 also are the key to advancing wind, solar and tidal power.

“We can certainly generate energy from these sources, but the wind doesn’t blow all the time and we also have 12 hours of night,” he said. “Without better storage technology,IBM fru 92p1141,energy from these sources is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. Generating it is only half the battle. Efficiently storing energy for use when we need it is the key for making alternative energy actually pay off.”

The IBM project is the latest of several disclosed in recent months.

In April, researchers at MIT reported they were combining nanotechnology with genetically engineered viruses to build IBM fru 92p1137 that could power hybrid cars and cellphones. According to the university, the viruses, which infect bacteria but are harmless to humans, build the positively and negatively charged ends of lithium ion batteries. In lab tests, batteries with the new material could be charged and discharged at least 100 times without losing any capacitance, MIT reported.

Prior to that, researchers at Stanford University reported using silicon nanowires to enable lithium ion batteries to hold 10 times the charge they could before. That means a laptop currently holding a four-hour charge could last for 40 hours using the new IBM 02k6651,IBM 02k6928,ASM 92P1138,ASM 92P1140 according to Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford.