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Technology Stocks : VALENCE TECHNOLOGY (VLNC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Haynes who wrote (5358)	11/19/1998 5:14:00 PM
From: John Curtis	Respond to of 27311

Peter: Good call with that Ultracapacitor thread commentary. I've been following Maxwell Tech(MXWL) for some time as they've an intriguing product in that market sector which should logically become a high demand one once the alternative energy sector in alll its permutations; read here fuel cell technology, superconductor wire, solar cells, hybrid/EV vehicles, etc., etc., takes off(probably by the mid-point of the next decade). American Superconductor(AMSC) is an interesting speculative play, too, in superconducting wire(see some recent news releases regarding them and Detroit Edison if memory serves). Bottom line to me on all this? The next decade is gonna be truly spectacular for a high-tech propeller head like me, particularly since I've become involved with some fuel-cell related activity in my off hours. I feel like that guy in the old Dustin Hoffman movie "The Graduate." How so? Oh, that point where the guy pulls Hoffman aside and whispers, "Plastics. The future is Plastics." Only in this case I'd be whispering "Fuel Cells. The future is Fuel Cells!" Heh. Thanks for the post! John~

To: Peter Haynes who wrote (5358)	11/19/1998 5:52:00 PM
From: Gordon Quickstad	Respond to of 27311

Some might confuse power density with energy density. An ultra-capacitor having 10 - 20 times the power density of a battery of equal size sounds awesome. However, power is measured instantaneously such as "horsepower" and a common unit is Watts. Energy is measured over time and a common unit is Watt-hours. You need power over a long period of time in order to provide useful work and that is why ultra-capacitors will supplement batteries and not replace them. (Such as provide the high current for a short time for acceleration in a vehicle, after which the ultra-capacitor recharges for the next stoplight or car to pass).