The subject of energy storage is like anything else in technology: lots of entrants of completely different types that, over time are winnowed down, and ultimately, the “winners win and the losers lose.” What happens next is that the losers …
Category: Energy Storage
Living Off the Grid
These proponents of sodium-ion batteries ask, Is living off the grid the new norm? The answer to this question is no. Obviously if you’re one of the tiny fraction of 1% of the world’s population who lives in a house …
Tagged with: Living Off the Grid
Storing Energy with Gravity
Here’s another variation on the theme of storing off-peak energy by pushing a mass uphill, and then releasing the mass when energy is needed. Think of it as pumped hydro without the hydro. This has an advantage over competitive ideas …
Tagged with: Storing Energy with Gravity
Does this Tri-Fuel Generator Have Real-World Advantages?
From this: With 13,000 watts of peak power, HXT series (of electrical generators) runs on gas, propane, or natural gas – the largest Tri Fuel Portable Generator on the market! Find where to buy. It runs on three different fuels. …
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Tagged with: electrical power outage
Energy Storage in Flywheels
Here’s a clean energy investment opportunity that I don’t particularly recommend, for two main reasons: Flywheels have been around for hundreds of years, and, actually represented a viable potential solution to our energy storage needs, until the cost of batteries …
“New” Concept in Energy Storage
Here’s a piece on a subject we haven’t talked too much about recently: energy storage. In this case, it’s analogous to pumped hydro (see left) or advanced rail energy storage, both of which take off-peak energy and use it to …
Flywheels as Energy Storage
It’s been a while since we’ve discussed converting off-peak electricity to kinetic energy and storing it with the use of flywheels. Linked above is a start-up that claims to have breakthrough technology in this space. And indeed, breakthroughs will be …
Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
From a reader: Connecticut’s largest lake (Candlewood Lake) is really a 100-year-old hydroelectric facility. Water is pumped from the Housatonic River through a gigantic tube and into the lake, where the water is stored until it’s needed to generate electricity. …
Tagged with: pumped hydro energy storage
Hydrogen Is Problematic, But Not for the Reason Discussed Here
Here’s an article that suggests that our civilization’s use of hydrogen as an energy carrier can result in higher concentrations of greenhouse gases. They claim that fugitive hydrogen combines with certain atmospheric compounds (though they aren’t specific about this) that …
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Tagged with: Hydrogen Is Problematic
Discussion with a Clean Energy Skeptic
A reader who is skeptical of the value of renewable energy writes: No wind? No electricity. No sun? No electricity. True. Both solar and wind are variable energy resources, which introduces a problem for grid-operators who are trying to integrate …
