Energy storage
We are constantly hearing that we must reduce our energy consumption, but have you considered how important it is to be able to store energy?
Renewable solar and wind power have an obvious disadvantage: energy is created only when the sun shines or the wind blows. It is therefore important to be able to store this energy so that it can be used when the overall energy consumption is high and thus reduce the need for polluting gas or coal-fired power. The challenge, however, is to find good ways of storing energy – a nut for researchers to crack.
For the moment, batteries are the most widely used form of energy storage, but they have their limitations in terms of life expectancy and capacity. Further development of battery technology is therefore an important field to focus on.
If, for instance, the Dutch firm Ogron manages to realise its new lithium battery with all the qualities that they are applying to patent, this will mean a minor revolution in the field. The firm claims that it can create a battery with up to a 30 year life expectancy, an extremely short charge time, large storage capacity and relatively low weight. Time will tell whether this is possible. Other potentially good energy storage systems that are being researched include hydrogen, ground water, geological heat, air pressure, water storage and flywheels.
Read more:
http://www.ogron.eu/en/development.html
http://live.pege.org/2009-lithium/