When we are serious about net zero, the UK Guardian newspaper says, we will time-shift our electricity generation. We will have to do so, because our renewable energy generation does not coincide with our lifestyles. Or else we will have to return to our ancestors’ days, and awake at dawn and retire to bed at sunset.
Net Zero Requires a Serious Re-Think
The option of waking at dawn, and retiring at sunset is a pipe dream, let’s face it. We are far too accustomed to rising in winter while it still dark, and staying up late watching television. Battery storage is the only viable option, when we are serious about net zero, if we really want to get there.
Can you remember the days twenty-something years ago, when renewable energy came from the Sun, period? We used our solar panels to heat our hot water at home while the Sun shone. Little did we know we were actually doing time-shifted energy storage, as we soaked away work’s troubles in a bath tub.
Then suddenly one day it dawned on our collective consciousness, that we could store solar energy more effectively using batteries. This has the added advantage that the energy does not fade until we consume it, unlike hot water in the bath tub.
We Need Bigger, Better Batteries for Energy Storage
We have come a long way since those innocent days of twenty years ago. Nowadays, we also tap into wind and tide energy from mother nature. We have invested a deal of time and trouble into pushing as much energy as possible into tiny battery cells.
Perhaps it is time we made a leap forward into giant collective batteries instead. After all, we do have to recharge those tiny batteries after dark, and the energy has to come from somewhere. Giant flow batteries in shipping containers seem to be the best solution right now, when we are serious about getting to net zero.
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Flow Batteries for Long Energy Storage
