Are the days of portable diesel generators supplying temporary electricity numbered? Canary Media certainly seemed to believe this was possible, when they posed the question can batteries replace diesel someday. After all, batteries are evolving in leaps and bounds, while polluting diesel keeps spewing out noxious gases. This question is a good one indeed, and well worthwhile considering.
Good Reasons Why Batteries Could Replace Diesel
The logic also makes good dollar sense. Sure, batteries cost more up front. But diesel fuel costs more than electricity, and batteries eventually break through into profit. Batteries are also whisper-silent, and that’s a great advantage when you are planning an outdoor conference, or a church fete.
For as long as grid energy remains reliable, temporary power remains small fry business in North America. However, it’s a totally different matter when wild storms or fierce conflict strikes, and doctors need electricity for medical equipment. Climate change could add another layer, as governments ponder whether batteries could replace diesel on a larger scale?
However, there’s a third string to the growing logic that we also need to consider. The world is moving steadfastly towards a decarbonized economy, where we no longer burn fossil fuels. Batteries might unavoidably have to take over from temporary diesel generators at that point. This is already possible on a micro level. We just need to upscale the model.
Upscaling Battery Storage to a More Significant Role
Canary Media provides several examples in the outdoor construction, and remote movie industries. Battery technology did not cope well in pioneering times though, and so the enthusiasm faded. But energy storage has become more cost-effective lately. Could we be paused at the starting gate of another growth point?
Portable batteries could replace diesel on a larger scale, definitely. Mobile batteries are providing sterling service in greater quantities at campsites, and in homes during blackouts, to cite just two examples. Portable diesel generators will have to gradually fade away, and that’s fact. But for now they are useful allies in recharging home batteries during longer outages.
More Information
Battery Generators Competing with Diesel
