Out of Batteries?
Storing Energy Has Great Business and Disruption Potential
FUTURE PROOF – BLOG BY FUTURES PLATFORM
Demand for electricity off the grid and during peak hours is going up. Without a massive growth of energy storage, a new energy crisis is possible.
Tesla has launched gigantic battery manufacturing plants and new ones are in the making. The company does want to produce cheaper batteries for its electric cars, yet its aims are to be number one in energy storage business.
In Mira Loma, California, Tesla produced a battery farm capable of storing 20MW of electricity. When carbon based fuels are replaced by wind and solar, steady energy source for cities and the industry is vita. Without rapidly increasing energy storage capacity there will be an electricity crisis.
While batteries have a huge market potential, they bear the risk of becoming a major disruptor in case some of their raw materials like lithium becomes too rare and expensive.
Energy mass storage can be realised by water reservoirs. The latest invention is to fill former oil and gas wells with pressurised water and let it run back through turbines. Solutions may vary between domestic and industry energy storage.
Still, there is no way around it: we need bigger and better batteries. The Good Stuff video blog argues that “if we ever want to get off fossil fuels and start using renewable energy, we’re going to need a revolution in energy storage”.
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