Are batteries the green wave of the future?

Sodium batteries could power a wide-range of machines, including hybrid locomotives.General Electric thinks so and is hoping to open a $100 million battery manufacturing center at its energy campus in Schenectady. Pending union approval, and a few other hurdles, the plant, which will create 350 jobs, will open in 2011, according to the Times Union.

Why is GE so gung-ho about batteries, and why now? For starters, GE's venture represents an investment in a new type of battery, one that has tremendous prospects for the environment, and the future of the American renewable energy economy.

Lighter, smaller, and more powerful, the sodium-based batteries would be capable of producing 900 megawatt-hours of energy a year (the equivalent of the battery power required for 45,000 plug-in electric cars), and could be used in hybrid locomotives, heavy mining equipment, and to store energy generated by solar panels and wind turbines. It is possible, too, that they could be combined with lithium-ion batteries, which are great performance-wise, but have limited storage capacity.

Click here to get a closer look at the race to develop these next-generation energy breakthroughs.