He was talking about another stock but I thought the remarks on Vanadium were pertinent to the last few days discussion.

Over the past few years, vanadium has become irreplaceable in several industries, such as aerospace, aviation and construction, due to its unrivaled ability to strengthen steel. In September of last year, Discover Magazine wrote an article titled, “The Element That Could Change the World.” The article discussed a growing interest in the use of vanadium to advance battery technology. Vanadium Lithium Ion batteries are beginning to make the electric car industry a reality, but even more interesting is the possibility of storing renewable energy using the Vanadium-Redox battery.

We already know that global energy demand is growing, but at the same time so is the awareness for the need of this energy to be clean! The nuclear industry provides an obvious solution to this problem, however in some places solar and wind power can also be useful. The problem you run into with solar and wind power is that they are both unpredictable. The solution…Vanadium! “…what is needed is a battery that can store enough energy to pull an entire power station through a rough patch, can be charged and discharged over and over, and can release large amounts of electricity at a moment’s notice. Several promising battery technologies are already in early-stage commercialization, but the vanadium battery may have the edge in terms of scalability and economy,” (Discover Magazine, September 29, 2008).