For The U.S. To Become Carbon Neutral, Long-Term Energy Storage Is A Must

July 26, 2021

The Biden administration is pushing its Energy Earthshots Initiative that aims to accelerate innovation and bring life-changing products to market. That involves “long-term energy storage,” which could radically alter the way electricity is produced and consumed by permanently tipping the scales toward green energy.

If voracious energy users such as data centers are to hit their net-zero targets, they must run their enterprises on renewable energy. But the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. So long-term energy storage is vital. Their dilemma: most storage assets can kick in for a few hours but they can’t discharge for weeks at a time. What now?

While batteries are meeting many of today’s short-term storage needs, they cannot provide long-term storage: lithium-ion batteries can keep the electrons flowing for four-to-eight hours, although “flow batteries” can release energy for 15 hours. If a catastrophic event such as a wildfire occurs, then diesel generators are used for long-term relief — but limited by the amount of available fuel.

Meantime, there’s hydrogen. Solar panels will generate excess electricity which, through an electrolyzer, is turned into pure hydrogen. That gas is stored in a tank before being piped through a fuel cell. It is a form of long-term energy storage, although the cost of producing “green hydrogen” from clean sources needs to drop before it would become commonplace.

Read more here.

Related News

03.28.24

Hydrogen industry pleads for easier path to US tax credits

Some companies planning to use new U.S. tax credits to deploy hydrogen projects urged the Treasury Department this...

CONTINUE READING >
03.28.24

Department of Energy Announces $6 Billion to Transform America’s Industrial Sector, Strengthen Domestic Manufacturing, and Slash Emissions

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced up to $6 billion for 33 projects across more than 20...

CONTINUE READING >
03.25.24

DOE National Laboratory Consortium to Advance High-Volume Manufacturing of Critical Clean Hydrogen Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) is pleased to highlight a...

CONTINUE READING >