Confusing. They say that carbon is the "only active material" in the battery. But it shows lithium being used, in the illustration photo and similarly in the video as well, between the anode and cathode, presumptively in the electrolyte. So this strictly speaking really a type of lithium ion battery, no? Since actually Li ions are moving back and forth?

Not that I'm going to hold my breath for this, but I REALLY hope it delivers as promised!

What? No idiot screaming that 'Big Oil' is going to buy this and hide the formula in Warehouse 13; after killing the inventors in mysterious 'accidents'.
Welcome to the 2014 of conspiracy busters. Everything, all the time means you can not hide good stuff, nor is there any reason to try.

I really hope that more breakthroughs like this keep appearing. The old lead-acid batteries are losing to modern tech, and hurrah for that. Now if the price can be kept to affordable, sainthood may be not too far around the corner (or at least an OBE).

Come on Gizmag. Give us a bit more technical information - like how does this battery create a potential difference across two electrodes made of the same material?

Easy there Robert Walther, take your meds and do not take the scary red pill. There is plenty going on beyond "Big Oil" but it is nice to hear a carbon based battery is shaping up. However it does not look like we will see it soon unless we purchase a vehicle, satellite or higher end medical devices.

Like eMike says it is not very likely to see it soon, and I'd like to add EVEN IF we buy an electric vehicle. This is a laboratory sample, while all the EV manufacturers have already secured long term contracts with 'classic' Li-Ion suppliers, so there is still a long piece of road ahead until a new tech like this will make it to the streets. Still I think this is an exciting development worth watching. I hope they become available when the battery pack currently in my electric car will be about to die.

@Robert Walther, this comes out of Japan, Big Oil doesn't have quite the same power there as in the US.

Regardless of how much they promise us peak oil is still not here, "Big Oil" is becoming "Smaller Oil" every day. The UK is a good example. Just follow the money (and not the oil companies) if you really want to understand how this world works. This is another compelling reason why to speed up any and all alternative energy research, although if I know our world well enough, all this new technology will also be taxed heavily once it becomes mainstream.

HerrDrPantagruel: "Ryden Dual Carbon Batteries use carbon as both the anode and cathode, with an as-yet-unidentified organic electrolyte containing lithium ions". Unidentified by whom?.....I want to believe this is real. FYI, these types of batteries were conceived over 40 years ago but research stopped when they could not deliver any meaningful output relative to prevailing technologies so maybe there is hope.