Innovation, sustainability and the future of cities
I started this thread of posts to discover whether electricity storage is a major barrier to wider deployment of renewables. So, what have we learned about electricity storage over the last nine weeks? Renewable energy has not created the need
Last week we talked about batteries for grid scale electricity storage. There is another way we can use chemical bonds to store spare renewable electricity – Power-to-X. The idea behind Power-to-X is to convert renewable electricity into a transportable and
After a quick holiday break over Christmas and the New Year, we get back to the blog series on energy storage technologies. I hope you all had an enjoyable time! In this 5th episode, we cover storing electricity as electricity
Looking for practical storage solutions for an electricity grid dominated by renewables, we have already examined gravity, pressure, and momentum as ways to capture and hold energy for later use. Next on our list is heat. It is helpful to
This series of blogs is about electricity storage and how it works with renewable energy to create net-zero electricity grids. Last week I talked about using weights and gravity to store electricity. The most popular method is pumped hydro storage.
Last week, I looked at the wide range of technologies available for electricity storage to support renewable energy grids. Gravity systems are the dominant form of electricity storage today. Current installations can store up to 9,000 GWh—about a quarter of
I get frustrated that any time renewable energy and net-zero get mentioned on social media, reporting a new technical breakthrough, a bigger pipeline of projects or reducing costs, someone will triumphantly reply “you know the sun doesn’t shine at night!”,
When I first started working in industry, I was lucky to have a great manager. One aphorism he drummed into me was: “don’t let best be the enemy of better”. It is easy to keep looking for the optimum; to
Last Friday I attended the annual Business Green Technology Awards. I always enjoy these events as they provide a great snapshot of innovation activity in the cleantech sector in the UK. This year I was a member of the judging
The challenge of retrofitting 26 million homes In the UK we face a stiff challenge. The Climate Change Act of 2008 sets a legal target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Every part of the UK economy
Decarbonising heat A key challenge facing the UK is decarbonising the energy system. The UK is legally committed to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 and eventually to net-zero under the Paris Agreement. Most of the focus in