Investment in renewable energy, our political leaders keep telling us, is supposed to result in good-paying American jobs, stimulate old-fashioned American innovation, free us from our dependence on foreign oil and lead to a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing. That's a tall order for government and industry to fill, even without a recession clinging like a frightened child, but there is evidence that some U.S. companies are up to the challenge.rnTake Ioxus Inc., a small start-up with 16 employees located in Oneonta, N.Y. The company was founded in 2006 by parent Custom Electronics to develop and produce ultracapacitors, an electrochemical energy storage device that can augment or even supplant batteries. While ultracapacitors have been available commercially since the late 1970s, the market for these devices has surged in recent years. Compared to batteries, explains Chad Hall, Ioxus' chief operations officer, ultracapacitors offer high power density, quick charging and discharging, stable operation in a wide temperature range, and the ability to cycle hundreds of thousands of times.
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