This Report on Flow Batteries Will Make You Smile
A reader from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, CA, a group that’s heavily committed to sustainability, writes: For an emotional uplift check out the flow battery progress sponsored by ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Administration-Energy).
Yes, this really is terrific. We’re getting there, and it’s happening far faster than most people realize.
Here’s a short and coincidental story: For one of the radio programs I was hosting for a couple of years, I interviewed David Cobb (pictured — Green Party presidential nominee in 2004), whom I met at a lecture he gave at a Unitarian Church close to my home. He began his talk by saying, “I really like the Unitarians. They’re almost…., you know, it’s kind of like a religion.” I thought it was funny, and I’m sure it didn’t offend anyone. The Unitarians are humanists, and I’m sure they can take a joke.
It’s good that research on flow batteries is continuing. Regardless of what power sources are used, storage is helpful. However, it would be a mistake to assume that adequate storage will be available and make decisions on that assumption.
At the end of the following link are 2 comments about how the availability of lithium may limit the amount of lithium battery capacity we can build to make renewables workable:
https://bravenewclimate.com/2016/05/01/open-thread-24/
There is more information in the links in the article.
Unfortunately, flow batteries are not covered.