Energy

Article 9
Mega-storage capacities on the energy front
Rail & Recherche n°40 - July/August/September 2006

Gérard Coquery, head of the New Technologies Laboratory at INRETS, says that 70% of INRETS research concerns road transport. There is one area, however, where its work converges with rail transport: “We are studying new technologies from the angle of duration and trying to better understand systems like the components of ultracapacitors.”
According to Coquery, ultracapacitors for energy storage are an important area of energy research. “When it comes to energy, there are three key things that must be mastered simultaneously: power electronics, energy storage buffers, which include ultracapacitors, and clean electric generators.”
Work in his laboratory is focused mainly on technological reliability. This research will provide knowledge of new materials and allow predictive utilisation so that they are not changed too early or too late. An essential aspect of this research is finding non-polluting solutions. “Ultracapacitors store electricity and release it with nearly 100% efficiency. All these systems contain small quantities of toxic materials, but the life cycle of these materials can be controlled. And a new generation of ultracapacitors with no such materials is being developed”, notes Coquery.
In a world where technological progress is accelerating and energy sources will be more diverse, Coquery argues in favour of hybridisation, which he believes is a good response to the radical developments that are coming. “If diesel electric generators are prohibited or exorbitantly expensive to operate in 20 years, it will have to be possible to modify the locomotives on order today.”