The Storage Problem
Posted by Charles II on July 13, 2010
Via Paul Kedrowsky, Donald R. Sadoway at MIT on Liquid Metal Batteries. This is a possible solution to one of the problems of renewables: intermittency. Personally, I think that there are better approaches (e.g., storage as heat, e.g., superconducting loops) but the great thing about science is that any path can prove to be the industrially practicable one.
MIT has a website devoted to public lectures. Not sure I’ll listen to Thomas Friedman.
3 Responses to “The Storage Problem”
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Phoenix Woman said
Can superconductivity be sustained for indefinite periods (or at least long enough to work as an efficient battery)? The whole entropy thing worries me a touch.
Charles II said
Yes, it can be maintained indefinitely; indeed, there are practical applications where this is done now. The current market for such devices is about $5B.
The limitation is the requirement for low temperatures. Low temperatures, of course, require cooling, which consumes energy. With good enough insulation, that can be minimized. However, the goal is to achieve superconduction at ambient temperatures. This would, for example, make practical the construction of superconducting transmission lines.
Phoenix Woman said
I can see how that would be the Holy Grail for the desert southwest as well as for the mountain and high plains areas, and the offshore windfarms.