cheap energy storage Archives – The Green Optimistic

Cheap Energy Storage Solution Uses Rails and Rocks

Mila Luleva — Fri, 20 May 2016 20:48:08 +0000

To store renewable energy all we need is rocks, shipping containers and rails, according to the guys behind ARES Technology. Renewable energy sector is growing with an incredible speed. Bigger and better wind and solar farms emerge continuously, and their capacity increases tremendously. Home-based renewable energy is also continuously growing, with more and more home […]

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Potassium, Key to Cheap Energy Storage?

Mila Luleva — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:07:49 +0000

Scientists proved that potassium can serve as a cheap and abundant, highly efficient alternative to lithium in batteries with graphite anode. Lithium ion batteries are currently the core of energy storage. Although alternatives based on sodium and magnesium, have been explored for quite some time, no technology is able to compete just yet. In any normal circumstances […]

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Origami-Folded Paper Battery is Powered by Bacteria

Mila Luleva — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 15:24:29 +0000

Revolutionary bacteria-powered, folded and cheap paper-based battery was created using origami techniques. Scientists have been experimenting with paper-based and microbial-powered batteries for quite some time now, demonstrating the potential of such technologies for future use in portable gadgets or to serve bigger purpose of energy delivery in poor regions of the world. Some examples are the […]

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New Electrolyte Promises Better Magnesium-Sulfur Batteries

Mila Luleva — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 07:57:08 +0000

Myths and legends say that magnesium-sulfur hold the key to better and cheaper energy storage. New research from the German Karlsruhe Institute of Technology’s (KIT’s) Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) might actually have brought it closer to viability, by developing a new electrolyte. Yes, the list of electrolytes that are being developed by scientists around the […]

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Southern California Implementing 53 MW Ice Energy Storage for Air Conditioning Systems

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:35:34 +0000

Ice can be used to store energy (though the other way we may be tempted to think) just like hot bricks or molten salt. Several Southern California municipal utilities will be implementing ice-based energy storage devices to reduce the air conditioning consumption in government offices and commercial buildings. Over the next two years, they will install 6,000 devices at 1,500 locations, storing around 53 megawatts of energy in total.

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Jay Whitacre’s New & Cheap Sodium-Ion Batteries Funded by DOE

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:38:02 +0000

Sodium is several orders of magnitude more available than lithium, and that makes it cheaper to use in batteries. Taking into account the destination of the projected batteries, to act like a buffer for storing renewable electricity, low voltages are enough, so making the technology cheaper by using a water-based electrolyte wasn't hard to think of.

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