Ian Clifford on Fox Business July 31, 2009

I cant seem to get the embed video to work on this. Here's a regular link to it.

I'm going to go ahead and say it. This was not the best interview Cheryl Casone ever conducted. Ummm.

Michael Dell Evades 2008 Question About EEStor Inc.?

One of the enduring mysteries of the EEStory has been whether or not the tight connection between former Board Member Mort Topfer (see photo above) and Michael Dell would lead to any future business opportunities for EEStor Inc. Some have said that since Dell is an investor in some of the Kleiner Perkins funds, then maybe indirectly he has an investment in EEStor. One thing that is well known is the Weir's worked with the Topfer's at Dell, something that continues even today with EEStor Board of Director Greg Weir, a senior manager at Dell. But just because EEStor has ties to Dell doesn't mean that Michael Dell is personally aware of EEStor and it's battery pursuits. Or does it?

After extensive searching, I was somehow lucky enough today to find an interview of Michael Dell from February 27,2008 held at the University of Toronto (article hosted on Dell's website) in which he was asked about Mort Topfer joining the board of EEStor. Here's the exchange:

Question: It was announced on January 8th that Morton Topfer is joining the board of a mysterious

company out of Texas called E-store and a bit of background for no one who's ever heard of them, they

are claiming ultra capacitors with energy density -- 10 times the energy density of lead acid batteries at

a fraction of the cost, and charging time of five minutes. Do you think there is merit in this technology,

and where do you see it going?

MICHAEL DELL: Well, you know, I haven't studied the technology. Mort is a very bright guy and I

have a lot of respect for him. The area of energy storage is one where there is constant effort to create

the next innovation, but one also has to be very careful because energy storage is basically a way of

capturing energy so you release it very, very slowly. Of course if you get it wrong, it doesn't release as slowly, and that's not a good thing. (Laughter) So it sometimes takes a while to get these things right, and so I would just be cautious that there are a lot of these technologies -- claims like that have been made before and sometimes it takes a while for these

things to actually come to fruition. You know, most of the improvements in power have come not from

the power system itself, but from the reduction in power of the electronics. So we'd love to see

innovations and hopefully this company or others will be able to kind of break the curve that we've been

on with classical lithium, lithium ion, lithium polymer types of technologies.

--------------------

I think any ongoing observer of the EEStory has to acknowledge a few things about this statement by Michael Dell. First, he is definitely aware of EEStor. Second, he seems to be hinting at precisely the thing that Dick Weir has said which is that the reduction of the power electronics has made the EESU possible---which indicates in all likelihood that he heard via EEStor. Thirdly, he's not ready to really talk about EEStor...at least at this Feb 2008 event.

So what would Dell do with a contract with EEStor Inc.? Maybe acquire a phone company, ie, Palm? How else could it compete with the Apple iPhone? ....and not to mention regain a lead in the mobile computing market place. And who at Dell would lead that charge or take a product through UL Certification? Michael, how's that for a slow release?

UPDATE: It's been pointed out to me that the Dell response is referring specifically to the reduction in power consumption of the electronics and not the reduction in size of the power electronics vis a vis recent EEStor revelations concerning power electronics. I admit that's an eminently plausible interpretation. I'll mull it over.

Update #2: I found the video of this event. It's on YouTube now:

More Info on UL Certification for EEStor Inc.

I had a chance to interview Jace Curtis from the company (PTI Inc.) that validated the EEStor permittivity re-testing performed by Ed Golla. We could not talk about Zenn/EEStor but instead focused on UL Certification in general.

Waiting for EEStor by Bugging Steven Chu at the Department of Energy

Are you bored waiting for EEStor to make the big reveal? Not sure what to do with yourself or how to accelerate your own personal energy storage Christmas-like event? Maybe you could communicate your desire to see the Department of Energy take a greater interest in energy storage projects like EEStor's? (And no, there are no lithium ion projects that qualify for that distinction.) A great new way to do just that seems to have become available recently. I'm talking about Steven Chu's Facebook page.

I challenge you, the person reading this sentence (yes even you Dick McGraw), to go on to Facebook and ask Steven Chu as many battery-related questions as you can muster. My recommendations:

1) Can you please share your views on EEStor ultracapacitor technology and any efforts similar in potential impact?

2) Why should the USA invest so much money in lithium ion batteries for automotive applications when the quantity of lithium available for this purpose is disputed?

3) Why has the Dept of Energy chosen not to reveal an alphabetical list of every company who has applied for Stimulus funds in the Advanced Vehicle and Battery Manufacturing programs? Why do we have to wait for awards to be made before we can learn who has applied given that transparency is an important goal of the Obama administration?

While I did use the word "bugging" in the blog post topic heading, I do not actually encourage you to bug the man literally. However, I do encourage you to utilize this medium of communication en masse to shine a light on energy storage for Dr. Chu. Who knows, he may actually have something interesting to say about it. (one can hope, right?)

.....aaaaaannd BEGIN!

Polarity Inc. Publishes Patent Referencing EEStor

TheEEStory.com regular GaryB, famous for finding EEStor related patents and trademarks, has done it again. This time, he has found a patent application from EEStor supplier Polarity Inc.

"0003] Emerging applications for DC-to-DC converters require high efficiency conversion of relatively high input voltages. For example, a high-energy storage device described in U.S. Patent No. 7,033,406 claims to safely store charge at 3,500 volts. This voltage will have to be down converted efficiently and regulated for use with equipment that requires relatively lower supply voltages. For example, conventional battery powered motor vehicles might benefit from a high-energy storage device, but the electric motors employed to drive them typically require input voltages of less than 100 volts. Voltage converters suitable for this task should be robust, inexpensive, and compact to ensure commercial viability. " 

EEStor Audio Follow Up

EEStor Inc. has requested that I delete the link to the unuathorised Dick Weir audio. I have agreed to do that.

Unknown Russian American Scientist says EEStor Energy Density "Possible in Principle"

Vehement EEStor denier, Y_Po, found himself in the hot seat this evening at TheEEStory.com fielding a barage of questions in the chat room. Despite rarely allowing himself to be nailed down to a specific position regarding his EEStor skepticism, Y_Po yielded to a flurry of questions I threw at him as well as several from the chat room audience.

The biggest revelation? Y_Po thinks the EEStor Energy Density (20,000J/cc) is possible in principle (but also, unlikely).

"You can do something in that range in principle."  -Y_Po

Despite being asked close to 23 times what the relevant ED mechanism might be, Y_Po refused to answer the question. What was interesting is that this revelation contrasts sharply with 2 other skeptics on TheEEStory: Zawy and ee-Tom.

Additionally, Y_Po maintained what he has always maintained which is that EEStor's Dick Weir is not competent and may be a fraudster. The fundamental problem which Y_Po believes Weir and team can not overcome is "saturation."

Catch the whole interview here. Also, if you can figure out what kind of nut I am for conducting that interview and posting this article, please let me know. I am curious.

UPDATE:  A rebuttal has been posted questioning my characterization of the interview.  Out of fairness, I will post it in it's entirely:

Y_Po EEluminated Registered: May, 2009 Last visit: 2 hours ago Posts: 568

B, you really have problems with hearing.  I have said "It is possible (in principle) but not the way Weir does it" MANY times. I also explained how one can get high energy density. "In principle" means "not practically possible" :) So your blog record is completely wrong and misleading. I did not admit anything you just finally heard what I have been saying for all this time.

Ian Clifford Interview

Good interview at gm-volt.com covering recent thoughts of Ian Clifford.

Could EEStor Technology End North Korea's Evil Regime?

I'm not typically a political person. Most political dialogue in the USA is, to me, a little bit boring because I'm such a neophyte. But there are some issues that do get my blood boiling. Apart from my deep desire to see the USA achieve energy independence from our good friends in the Middle East, I get a bit out of sorts when I read about evil masked as legitimate government. Examples: Iran, North Korea, Sudan. I always come to the same conclusion: the absence of real LEADERSHIP is what allows such scenarios to grow into major problems. Unfortunately, individual citizens have limited options to encourage action on the part of our leaders and those around the world, ie, to complain....more or less.

In this regard, Blaine Harden from the Washington Post Foreign Service deserves some significant praise for his Front Page article on the topic of North Korea's Hard Labor Camps. Harden points out that these North Korean camps now exceed those of the Soviet Gulag & Nazi concentration camps. One of the camps covers an area the size of Los Angeles, CA. We know from former guards that the prisoners are mostly political and are tortured, malnourished and occasionally imprisoned with 3 generations of their family. Women are raped, executions are mini-terrorism lessons for teenagers and essentially, the whole thing amounts to mass scale sanctioned evil.

Sanctioned? That's a strange word to insert here because it means that something is done with approval. In fact, the recognition of North Korea as a sovereign nation is exactly that--a sanction to allow it's evil leaders to persist in power. And every free person whose free government allows North Korea to participate in any trade with any other nation is guilty by association (freely practiced in NK by the way) of this sanction. In my personal political belief system, at some point nations who conduct their affairs in such a way cease to be nations and warrant nothing less than WAR! Countries who treat their citizens shabbily are always the first to complain about such philosophies.

Of course, the key problem in North Korea is the South Koreans whose culture allows the conditions of the North to be largely ignored by its populace! In my opinion, we ought to express displeasure with South Korea for not taking care of it's problems with the North. Of course, they will claim that an attack on the North would imperil the millions of people in Seoul. So basically, you have a high stakes standoff with a thug regime. What's the answer? EEStor? Certainly nothing could be more ridiculous??!!?

What does EEStor have to do with North Korea? Everything and nothing. Let's start with nothing first. North Korean citizens are not perpetually tortured due to lack of basic energy storage. Check. An EESU does not represent a political philosophy more compelling to the Korean cultured mind. Check. Sure, North Korea could benefit from renewable energy sources with better storage like anyone but again, it could provide no change. Check.

But look at who props up North Korea: China. They have now replaced the Soviet Union, who used to keep Kim Jong Il in power back in the 1990s. Yes, of course, their other trading partners are from the middle east. And of course, various approaches to North Korea have been tried over the years. All have failed. So what's the EEStor answer?

Nothing would please me more than to have Dick Weir strictly impose a ban on the use of his products in China, the Middle East and the Soviet Union until North Korea is liberated and unified with South Korea. Set aside for the moment whether or not you can imagine that EEStor has exactly what it claims: how fantastic would be it be to see a hard headed Dick Weir beat his chest against world powers to effect real change??? I know, I know....it's completely crazy!!! ...but were it to be possible, can you imagine the drama? An interesting question to ask is whether or not EEStor is so disposed to do such politcal things? Well, reader, it is rumored that EEStor's incorporation rules prohibit the sale of EEStor to any Asian entity...specifically. So, if it's true, there may be some room for expansion of that sentiment. And relatedly, when Dick Weir was a pilot, where exactly was he flying around and why?

Of course, I can see the first major obstacle to the EESU becoming a political weapon: Zenn Motor Company. I don't think Zenn's shareholders would allow the company to block the use of EEStor technology in China.....unfortunately....even if Ian Clifford and team suddenly reflected deeply about the opportunity they may have to impact innocent and deserving lives. ( After all, if EEStor's technology is what they say it is....the corresponding creation of political power is a given.) I mean if you're going to fantasize about the reality of EEStor technology, you can't confine your thoughts to the stock price of Zenn. It's much bigger than that. And so, an interesting question to ask is whether or not Zenn Motor company and any other EEStor partner will take a stand with their goods? After all, why must global politics be played out only by governments? [Note: I am purposely not mentioning the Chinese Flag on the Kleiner Perkins website in this article. ]

I understand that the thrust of my article here may be a bit shocking and especially troubling if you follow EEStor for the prospect of Zenn stock or you think EEStor is a fraud. But the question is an interesting one: what if individual businesses with unique and important breakthrough innovations ceased doing business with China until North Korea was liberated? Picture a rag tag collection of innovative nuts (similar to moi) agreeing to do one thing: make it difficult for China & South Korea to allow North Korean human beings to suffer so much. (Or insert your favorite political cause here. )The prerequisite of course would be two things: truly transformational technology and the lack of public company regulation baggage.

Finally, I should address the technical aspect of this topic briefly as a non-SME. What would be great would be a series of satellites, ships and aircraft with electric powered lasers containing North Korea's missile ambitions by downing them as soon as they leave their air space. Next, we could selectively point a few of those lasers at key government buildings in NK. Nothing too serious: just raise the ambient air temperature a few degrees....like a polite tap on the shoulder. Or how about carving the letters U S A into the courtyard in Pyongyang? Far fetched? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

This article is dedicated to Laura Ling and Euna Lee . “The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by a despotic government” -Thomas Jefferson

EEStor Says it Has 33 Employees....Corrected 33 = No

According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, EEStor Inc. has reported that as of July 2009 it has 33 employees on staff as revealed in a recent Chamber document listing Clean Energy companies operating in the Austin area. 

 I asked Jose Beceiro, who is the Director of Clean Energy Initiatives for the Austin chamber, how the list was put together.  He told me the chamber purchased a business list from Hoovers and then had a team of people call area businesses to learn of the employment sizes.   So the figures in the list are self reported.  EEStor is not a member of the chamber, according to Beceiro.

Prior estimates of employees at EEStor have ranged from 8-15 in various counts.  This is the largest estimate so far and raises the question whether or not the facility on Discovery Blvd could even handle that many people. 

Thanks to TheEESTory.com member Jay for this discovery. 

CORRECTION:  EEStor points out this 33 figure is incorrect.  No additional clarification is available.