Renewable, sustainable batteries, actually in production, are a game-changer. We still have to wait for engineers to test them out in every possible application, and compare lifetimes, costs, supply chains, and the rest. Watch this space.
We’ll get back to our Bluesky sources, my e-mail subscriptions, and so on on Tuesday.
🎩 MCUBernieFan
This blew my mind when I started reading it — not just the ability to reduce dependency on metals, but also the implications of being able to use invasive plant species in local production puts it in the “I got 99 problems and 1 solution” files.
What started as a curiosity at CES 2025 has quietly matured into one of the show's most convincing sustainability narratives a year later. Flint, the Singapore-based startup developing a fully cellulose-based paper battery, is now in production and gearing up to supply its renewable power cells to major electronics partners, including Logitech, Amazon, and Apple accessory maker Nimble.
At this year's show, Flint wasn't showing off just lab prototypes. The batteries running toy trains at its booth were production-grade AA and AAA cells made from plant-based materials, not the metal-heavy chemistries that dominate today's market. Flint says those alkaline-style replacements are slated to reach consumers later in 2026, offering lifespan and voltage performance on par with conventional batteries.
~~~
Production is already underway in Singapore, where Flint sources cellulose from local plant species. Founder Carlo Charles told CNET that the company plans to adapt its process regionally, using available plants – including invasive species that are often considered ecological nuisances as feedstock for cellulose extraction.
Yes, kudzu, among others.
A paper battery is engineered to use a spacer formed largely of cellulose (the major constituent of paper). It incorporates nanoscopic scale structures.
A revolutionary water-based, rechargeable battery technology, developed from the ground up with sustainability at its core. Built with renewable and non-toxic ...
Researchers are reporting that they've made batteries and other energy-storage devices by printing layers of carbon nanotube–based ink atop standard photocopy ...
A paper battery is an electric battery with thin, adjustable energy production and storage devices that combine carbon nanotubes and a conventional sheet of ...
Feb 25, 2025 — Singaporean startup Flint is working to make a battery with purely sustainable materials, including plant-based cellulose, water-based electrolyte and ...
Videos
How Paper is the Future of Energy Storage
1628 Paper Battery As Powerful As an AA And Activated by Water
What are paper batteries? What is its construction? : - 76. #paperbatteries
Jan 10, 2025 — Flint's paper battery is poised to provide a more sustainable and affordable alternative to the traditional lithium-ion model.
Where to Find Me
I am changing this order a bit, starting next week, so that I can do Pushback on Wednesdays, after Rachel gets to have Too Much Fun with the news on Monday.
- Monday, Diabetes News, including spammers and quackery
- Tuesday, Renewable Tuesday, with disasters and denial
- Wednesday, The Pushback Chronicles
- Thursday, The Best of the Best, with much of what I used to put into GNRs
- Friday, Renewable Friday, with disasters and denial
- Saturday, my day off from DK posting, maybe
- Sunday, the koan of karma in This Suffering World