The real issue isn’t the overproduction per se, but that we (globally speaking) don’t have enough cheap scalable responsive distributed storage. I’m writing this from a privileged position since Switzerland has loads of dams and can pump water during such peaks. But it’s clear that’s not the solution everywhere. I hope a good cheap mass producible battery tech with less rare earth metal requirements comes along soon.
I applied to a company called Form Energy with a really interesting solution. They use the cheap simple ingredients of iron and water to rust and de-rust iron to store and release energy. It’s less efficient than lithium-ion batteries but the cost is low and scalability is enormous. If it can make it past all of the hurdles and regulations it could be the solution to the energy storage problem for wind and solar.
Looks like the US has one in Tennessee, place called Raccoon Mountain, in the 1970s. At the time, the power source was to be nuclear. Another large scale project is being built near Seattle, with enough stored energy for 12 hours of electricity for every residence in Seattle. Pretty cool that such a conceptually simple technology can solve these problems.
The real issue isn’t the overproduction per se, but that we (globally speaking) don’t have enough cheap scalable responsive distributed storage. I’m writing this from a privileged position since Switzerland has loads of dams and can pump water during such peaks. But it’s clear that’s not the solution everywhere. I hope a good cheap mass producible battery tech with less rare earth metal requirements comes along soon.
I applied to a company called Form Energy with a really interesting solution. They use the cheap simple ingredients of iron and water to rust and de-rust iron to store and release energy. It’s less efficient than lithium-ion batteries but the cost is low and scalability is enormous. If it can make it past all of the hurdles and regulations it could be the solution to the energy storage problem for wind and solar.
Looks like the US has one in Tennessee, place called Raccoon Mountain, in the 1970s. At the time, the power source was to be nuclear. Another large scale project is being built near Seattle, with enough stored energy for 12 hours of electricity for every residence in Seattle. Pretty cool that such a conceptually simple technology can solve these problems.