This Battery Looks Good on Paper Because it's Paper

Whoever said that in this electronic age we are becoming a paperless world obviously hasn't been introduced to some of the newest technology in batteries. Several of these highly portable sources of energy are still experimental. They do boast of being environmentally friendly -- and all make use of paper as a key ingredient.

Researchers are developing batteries that are made partially of paper and the results have been showing varying degrees of promise, though none of them appear ready yet for portable ham radio. In France, a company called BeFC is pioneering what it considers to be a single-use, eco-friendly alternative to the small button battery that is fully compostable when the user is done with it. More of a paper-based bioenzymatic fuel cell than an actual battery, it releases energy when moisture is released and comes into contact with the sugar and enzymes that are infused into a layer of paper between the unit's carbon electrodes. Generating only .75 (point seven five) volts, it still has a long way to go before it can power more than perhaps a sensor or medical device someday.

In Singapore, researchers at the startup company, Flint, claim that they have a rechargeable battery in the works that will ultimately replace lithium batteries for use in grid storage and electric-vehicle power. Like the French battery, it too is designed to be compostable and it makes use of the cellulose in paper for the transfer of ions.

Ten years ago, researchers in the US, at Binghamton University in upstate New York, developed what they called "microbial paper-based batteries," that is, they derive their power from bacteria's metabolism. Like its French counterpart, however, the output has been deemed too low for practical use.

So the research continues. To scientists, for now, it all looks good on paper.

Zero Retries Newsletter Hosting Inaugural Conference

In the latest instance of a newsletter, publication or blog hosting a convention or meeting, the Zero Retries Digital Conference will take place later this year organised by the newletter of the same name. This gives the digital and experimental side of things a louder voice. Those attending can expect to hear about the IP400 Networking Project, and see demonstrations of the M17 Digital Voice/Data system and the MMDVM-TNC data system. Conference manager Tina Stroh KD7WSF expects to put out requests for presenters very soon and will make a sign-up sheet available online.

The conference will be held on the 13th of September at the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington.

The Hansen conference center will be transformed into a kind of epicenter of digital innovation at that time. The Zero Retries conference is taking place just as GRCon 2025 wraps up. GRCon is the annual conference for the GNU Radio project and community, That conference runs from Monday September 8th through to Friday September 12th. Although the two events share the same venue, they are not connected to one another.

Zero Retries Digital Conference - https://www.zeroretries.org/

South African Radio League Commits to Helping Continent’s Less-Developed Nations

As it prepares to mark its centenary in May, the South African Radio League has decided that it would be an especially wise move to nurture amateur radio's growth throughout sub-Saharan Africa. SARL president Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL, told the website TechCentral that amateur radio is almost nonexistent outside of Egypt and Nigeria in the northern part of the continent and Namibia and South Africa in the south.

“You have this middle part of Africa where there is nothing, absolutely nothing”

— Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL

Finding a foothold for amateur radio in less-developed parts of the continent will be an ambitious agenda and SARL acknowledges that this kind of expansion will need political and financial support. SARL's Chris Turner ZS6GM, who has been active in amateur radio instruction and mentoring, has already had success with efforts in Mozambique. In that nation, ham radio operators are seen as an asset, especially when floods or other natural disasters require emergency communications.

SARL has already kicked off its next 100 years with a Centenary Marathon QSO Party that began on the 1st of January and will continue through to the 31st of December. Special event callsigns will include ZS100SARL.