Climate Basics Podcast Episode 4 notes

 Episode 4 - Batteries, coal, consumption, and storage .
Grids! How they work now, how they’ll have to work in the future.
 Currently, the biggest economies like germany, china and u.s. are using fossil fuels to maintain power production around usage level, load.
This is the simplest way to design a grid because that way you don’t need to store the energy, just produce it, and also because it normalizes & simplifies the costs of power for average consumers. It only works however when you can increase production on demand. One level for day-to-day "Base Load" and higher levels for high-usage moments like heatwaves.

Renewables go on their schedule, not ours. so, storage is key for making truly green infrastructure.

There are three ways we store energy: Chemically, Thermally, Kinetically
Chemical batteries include nickel-cadmiun, lithium, vanadium flow, etc.
Thermal batteries include thorium, salt, molten metals which heat up. Exowatt is an example.
Kinetic batteries store using pressure, gravity, and other physical forces to increase the potential energy state of materials - often water, air etc. Dinglun site is an example, as is Energy Dome in Sardinia. Others include pumped hydro - mentioned last episode, also compressed gas - air, co2, also gravity storage, and others can potentially be building into old salt mines and other expended facilities. 

The tech is mature, it just needs to be built and then we can have green grids

    • Major economies are still using the worst fuels

    • This is largely due to peak/surge demand variability. 

    • If we want a different result, we have to get higher capacity storage.

    • Storage is a distinct few kinds: chemical, thermal, and kinetic.

    • Chemical: corrosive, dangerous, costly.

    • Thermal: promising, newer.

    • Kinetic: established, if less efficient. 


Here are some kinds of battery we should mention:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/redox-flow-battery
https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/Flow-batteries-forgotten-energy-storage/101/i25 Solar Without Panels, Storage Without Batteries - EXOWATT
How Thermal Batteries Could Replace Lithium-Ion Batteries
How Compressed Air Batteries are FINALLY Here

How A Brick & Rock Battery Is Changing Energy Storage
This iron flow battery could power a more renewable grid

How a Sand Battery Could Revolutionize Home Energy Storage

How This Mechanical Battery is Making a Comeback

Can a Simple Brick Be the Next Great Battery? | John O'Donnell | TED
Also relevant: The Best Thing That Could Happen to the Energy Industry | Matt Tilleard | TED
:





    1) Chemical batteries (Li-ion, Ni-Cd, vanadium flow — grid / BTM / residential applications)

    1. Tesla (Powerwall / Megapack) — lithium-ion battery systems: Powerwall for residential/commercial BTM; Megapack for utility-scale / transmission-side grid services (frequency, capacity, firming). Tesla+1

    2. CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.) — large-scale lithium battery cells & containerised ESS for grid and commercial BTM; dominant Chinese cell supplier for EVs and stationary storage. CATL+1

    3. LG Energy Solution — battery cells and ESS packs used in residential and commercial energy storage and in grid-scale aggregations; major global cell manufacturer. LG Energy Solution+1

    4. Saft (TotalEnergies subsidiary) — long-life industrial batteries including nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) blocks used for telecom, substation backup and off-grid/remote storage (industrial BTM / critical infrastructure). Saft also supplies Li-ion for other stationary markets. Saft+1

    5. Invinity Energy Systems — vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) aimed at multi-hour, long-duration grid and commercial installations (utility/behind-the-meter business sites requiring long cycles and long asset life). Invinity+1

    2) Thermal “batteries” (molten salt, molten/ liquid metals, heat storage — often for long-duration or industrial heat)

    1. Ambri — liquid-metal electrochemical battery (molten metal electrodes / molten salt electrolyte). Designed for long-duration grid applications (utility and commercial site firming); candidate for transmission/utility scale. Ambri+1

    2. EnergyNest — modular sensible-heat thermal batteries using engineered concrete (HEATCRETE®) to store heat up to several hundred °C for industrial heat, district heating and some grid/BTM use cases. Targets industrial decarbonisation and site-level BTM heat/ electricity coupling. ENERGYNEST+1

    3. Malta Inc. — electro-thermal long-duration storage (molten-salt / pumped-heat concepts) storing energy as high-temperature heat and low-temperature cold for multi-hour to multi-day dispatch — aimed at utility/ transmission and industrial uses. Recent pilot projects in Europe are public. Malta Inc.+1

    4. Brenmiller Energy — “heat-battery” systems (bGen™) that store high-temperature sensible/latent heat in inexpensive media (crushed rock) for industrial process heat and grid services (power-to-heat and dispatchable heat). Claimed factory/gigafactory capacity for industrial deployments. Brenmiller+1

    5. Silbat (and similar molten-silicon concepts) — R&D / startup working on molten-silicon thermal storage with thermophotovoltaic reconversion (high energy density LDES concept); targeted at long-duration stationary storage (utility / commercial). (Technology at pilot / early commercialisation stage.) Silbat+1

    Note: many “thermal batteries” are geared toward industrial heat and long-duration electricity rather than small residential BTM—their primary targets are utility/transmission and large commercial/industrial sites. Several are still at pilot or early commercial scale; citations above point to company program pages and recent project news. ENERGYNEST+1

    3) Kinetic / mechanical batteries (gravity, pumped hydro / underground water pressure, compressed air, rail or weight systems)

    1. Energy Vault — gravity energy storage using lifted concrete/composite blocks (tower systems). Positioned as utility and large commercial/industrial storage (short-to-long durations) to avoid chemical battery degradation and fire risk. Energy Vault+1

    2. Gravitricity — underground gravity storage that raises/lowers heavy weights in mine shafts (long-duration, fast response); pitched at grid operators and distribution-level assets. Partnerships with industrial equipment firms for deployment. Gravitricity+1

    3. Hydrostor — advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) using underground caverns (air + water) for multi-hour to multi-day storage aimed at utility/transmission and large commercial customers. Hydrostor+1

    4. Quidnet Energy — geomechanical (pumped subsurface) storage: pump water under pressure into subsurface rock formations (“store energy as pressure”), then generate later — targeted at transmission-scale firming and long-duration storage. Quidnet Energy+1

    5. ARES (Advanced Rail Energy Storage) — rail-based gravity storage that moves heavy rail cars uphill to store energy and downhill to recover it; utility / transmission scale, long lifetime, low degradation. ARES North America+1

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