{"id":616371,"date":"2023-03-10T08:49:15","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T14:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/10\/these-companies-want-to-go-beyond-batteries-to-store-energy\/"},"modified":"2023-03-10T08:49:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T14:49:15","slug":"these-companies-want-to-go-beyond-batteries-to-store-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/10\/these-companies-want-to-go-beyond-batteries-to-store-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"These companies want to go beyond batteries to store energy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Physical energy storage could be a cheap and long-lasting way to stabilize the grid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Fervo<\/p>\n

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Fervo Energy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday,\u00a0sign up here.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If y\u2019all have been around for a while, you know that I love writing about batteries<\/strong> (see exhibits A<\/a>, B<\/a>, and C<\/a>). Using chemical reactions to store energy is handy and scaleable, and there are about a million ways to do it, which is why batteries have basically become synonymous with energy storage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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But more groups are starting to think outside the battery. <\/strong>In an effort to cut costs and store lots of energy for long periods of time, researchers and companies alike are getting creative: <\/strong>pumping water into the earth, compressing gas in underground caverns or massive tanks, even lifting giant blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we build more renewable energy capacity in the form of variable sources like wind and solar power, we\u2019re going to need to add a lot more energy storage to the grid to keep it stable and ensure there\u2019s a way to get electricity to the people who need it. Some of that energy storage might look a little different from the batteries we usually talk about around here, so let\u2019s take a closer look at why battery alternatives are popping up, and what it might take to make them a reality.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A certain gravitas<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As you may remember from high school physics class, energy can be stored in the form of potential energy: lift up a book, and there\u2019s energy stored in it that\u2019s released when you let go and gravity pulls it down. (That falling is kinetic energy in action.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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This simple concept, in the form of pumped-storage hydropower<\/a>, is the foundation of 90% of global grid storage today. That\u2019s right\u2014the vast majority of the world\u2019s energy storage comes from moving water uphill.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a pumped hydro plant, extra electricity is used to force water uphill from one reservoir to another. Later on, just open up the gates and let gravity do its thing: water flows downhill through a turbine, generating electricity. It\u2019s a cheap, relatively straightforward way to store energy for later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to scale pumped hydro, though, since it requires specific geographic conditions (not to mention that disrupting natural water systems can be really destructive for ecosystems).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some groups want to reimagine energy storage, harnessing gravity without relying on water<\/strong>. EnergyVault<\/a> is building facilities with elevators that raise and lower gigantic bricks to store energy. Gravitricity<\/a> wants to lift huge weights underground, maybe in old mine shafts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These systems might have high efficiency, returning a lot of the energy that\u2019s put into them. They may also last a long time, so it could be economical to store energy for days, weeks, or maybe even months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Proponents say gravity-based systems could help meet demand for long-duration storage. But there\u2019s also skepticism about the future of the approach, since they\u2019ll require a lot of work to build, and they might be tougher to maintain than expected. EnergyVault is making progress on a planned facility in China, though the company has also been deploying a lot of lithium-ion battery installations these days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The big squeeze<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s go back to high school physics one more time for another concept: pressure. If you squeeze something into a smaller space, you\u2019re raising the pressure.<\/p>\n

Turning that pressure into usable energy is the idea behind compressed-air energy storage.<\/strong> All you need is an underground salt cavern. When you\u2019ve got electricity you need to use, you can run pumps to push air inside the cavern. Then, when you need to get energy out, just release a valve and let the escaping air spin a turbine to generate electricity again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are only a couple of these facilities running worldwide, one in Germany and another in Alabama. In the past, they\u2019ve been tied up with fossil fuels, since they usually work alongside natural-gas power plants. But now companies want to reimagine compressed-air storage, using it for renewables and expanding where it can be used.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, local governments in California signed contracts with Hydrostor, which is building what would be the world\u2019s largest compressed-air storage facility<\/a>. Instead of relying on natural geological conditions, Hydrostor will drill three shafts deep into the earth to store the compressed air.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a billion-dollar project, and it could be operating as soon as 2028 to store energy and help smooth out California\u2019s grid using nothing but air.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other groups want to take a different approach to the same concept. Energy Dome, an Italian startup, wants to compress carbon dioxide instead of air to store energy. This wouldn\u2019t require large underground storage caverns at all\u2014for more on the details here, check out my story from last year on Energy Dome.<\/a><\/p>\n

Earth to battery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some groups are also looking to pair these new approaches to energy storage with efforts to generate electricity, making new power plants more flexible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Take geothermal energy, which harnesses heat from inside the earth. Geothermal power plants are usually used for what\u2019s called baseload energy, running at about the same capacity all the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, though, a startup called Fervo Energy has shown that it can store energy using its geothermal wells.<\/strong> By pumping water into them, it can increase the pressure underground over time\u2014and when that pressure is released, the geothermal plant produces more energy than usual.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fascinating twist on energy storage and could transform what geothermal plants are capable of in the future. My colleague James Temple got to visit Fervo\u2019s test site and published a story about the startup\u2019s efforts earlier this week. Give it a read to get all the details.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Evelyn<\/p>\n

BRYCE VICKMARK<\/p>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Another thing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You might not be familiar with ARPA-E, but the government agency is helping shape the future of energy. Part of the DOE, ARPA-E supports high-risk, high-reward energy technologies. I sat down with its new director, Evelyn Wang, to talk about what technologies could transform energy in the future. Check out my story from Monday for more.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keeping up with climate<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The United Nations reached a major agreement to protect ocean biodiversity.<\/strong> If it\u2019s ratified, the treaty will create a group to govern the high seas. (New York Times<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you really need that bigger EV battery? <\/strong>Researchers followed around hundreds of drivers for a year in the US and found that nearly 40% of drivers could make ALL their trips in a small electric vehicle with just 143 miles of range. (Inside Climate News<\/a>)<\/p>\n

One of the new Plant Vogtle nuclear reactors in Georgia just reached self-sustaining nuclear fission.<\/strong> The project has been plagued by delays and cost increases. (Associated Press<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The way we eat is really rough on the climate<\/strong>\u2014the food sector could cause nearly 1 \u00b0C of warming by 2100. Addressing meat consumption and food waste could help. (The Verge<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2192 Some companies want to use food waste for energy, which could help cut harmful greenhouse-gas emissions. (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a divide in the US \u2026 in how we heat our homes. It could have an impact on decarbonization<\/strong>, because replacing oil in Maine will present different challenges than replacing natural gas through the Midwest and Northeast. (Washington Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Construction began last week on a controversial lithium mine in Nevada.<\/strong> Environmental groups and Indigenous tribes in the area have opposed the project, arguing that the land has cultural and religious importance and the work could cause ecological harm. (Grist<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2192 For the newsletter, I took a look at three myths about mining and renewable energy. (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/svg> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Casey Crownhart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Physical energy storage could be a cheap and long-lasting way to stabilize the grid.Fervo Energy This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday,\u00a0sign up here. If y\u2019all have been around for a while, you know that I love writing about batteries (see exhibits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":616372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,46,43],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-616371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-companies","8":"category-technology","9":"category-these"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}