This week, Tesla locked in a new patent for a distributed electrical grid management system, with capability to control everything from massive grid-scale energy storage installations down to your washing machine to keep everything humming along nicely.
A new coal-killing energy storage proposal fits right in with the Energy Department’s vision for wind and solar grid integration (wait, what about coal?).
The next generation of energy storage is set to go far and beyond the capabilities of today’s Li-ion technology, as federal energy experts eyeball a goal of 120 gigawatts in storage by 2050.
A big part of Livingston and Conroy’s pitch to the DoE was to leverage soon-to-be-commercialized oscillating disk technology in a mostly continuous tunneling model. This would entail not only having the oscillating disk cutter, but also automated ceiling bolting and shotcreting for tunnel stabilization.
Pumped storage hydro has far more resource potential than required for a fully decarbonized grid and it’s cheap per megawatt-hour (MWh) of storage. The downside is that it’s slow to build, capital intensive, and heavily regulated right now in the United States. The Department of Energy FAST program aims to change that.
One of the key take aways from the wind industry experience is that assuming that you have social license because of the virtuousness and safety of an electrical generation technology is a big mistake.
One of the key take aways from the wind industry experience is that assuming that you have social license because of the virtuousness and safety of an electrical generation technology is a big mistake.
The concept of putting floating solar panels on pumped hydro reservoirs is fascinating, but not a slam dunk. This 2nd article covers an additional six pros and cons.
The concept of putting floating solar panels on pumped hydro reservoirs is fascinating, but not a slam dunk. This 1st article covers evaporation management.
While Jacobson’s latest Stanford study on 100% renewables by 2050 will draw fire for leaning into the Green New Deal, it strongly supports that policy.
