Storage of Renewables, A New Stock Of Innovative Solutions

Here are three potential breakthrough solutions that are not only effective ways to store energy, but also are sustainable and renewable systems in and of themselves. Such processes often rely on low-cost and accessible technology that can easily be expanded and applied elsewhere

Building bricks to sustainable energy

Conventional bricks that have been used for thousands of years for construction have proven themselves to be adaptable storage devices, powerful enough to even turn on LED lights. Scientists recently published findings in the journal Nature Communications that show that “smart bricks” can be created through a series of reactions.

• The researchers relied on a brick’s porous structure and strong material composition that was already known for its heat-storing abilities.
• Gas was poured through the brick’s pores, causing a reaction with its chemical components that created a plastic nano fiber called PEDOT, an energy conductor. The process changed the bricks from red to blue.
• More like a supercapacitor than a battery, they’re are good at storing large energy quantities, but only for short periods of time. While this was only an initial study, these bricks could have widespread uses, including in storing energy from solar panels.

Solving two environmental issues at once

What if sustainable energy storage could be combined with tackling another environmental issue, plastic waste management ? Utilizing an electrospinning fiber production technique, a team of researchers at the University of California Riverside have successfully upcycled PET waste bottles into electrochemical active carbon material.

• As they wrote in the journal Energy Storage, the material functions as a double‐layer supercapacitor.
• Although these substances can’t store as much energy as comparable lithium-ion batteries, they are cheaper and charge significantly faster, especially as the research team continues to fine tune the material to improve its electrical properties.
• The team — which has previously looked at the sustainable energy storage properties of materials ranging from Silly Putty to portobello mushrooms to beach sand — believes this technique is both marketable and scalable.

A new partnership for hydrogen storage

The LAVO Hydrogen Storage Technology invented by a team at the University of New South Wales will now become a commercial enterprise, thanks to a new partnership with engineering firm GHD and Providence Asset Group.

• The Hydrogen Energy Research Centre will develop the world’s first residential solar-based hydrogen energy storage systems. Extra energy produced from rooftop solar panels is captured by the hydrogen, allowing it to be stored until it is needed.
• The LAVO mechanism involves a small-scale electrolyser system that produces zero-emissions hydrogen and a fuel-cell device that takes the carbon to produce electricity.