Advantages and disadvantages of various energy storages
helpful summary table
50 Matching Annotations
- Jul 2020
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reader.elsevier.com reader.elsevier.com
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Energystorage technologies are expected to serve as a catalyst to address in-termittency issues of renewable energy sources, helping them realizetheir full economic benefits.
The lack of a cheap and reliable energy storage technology is one of the major barriers to a full transition to green energy. Based on the amount of research being done on this topic, I hope this fact changes soon and expect that it will.
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Among the various energy storage system categories, hydrogenenergy storage systems appear to be the one that can result in largechanges to the current energy system.
Hydrogen energy storage could be a good technology to focus on because it seems like others point to it when discussing a full transition to green energy, which is what I would like to explore.
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Storage of heat is accomplished by sensible and to a lesser extentlatent thermal energy storage in many applications, and less research isavailable on chemical and thermochemical heat storage.
I would like to do more research on thermochemical energy storage because I find it really interesting, but it seems like people don't think it will be a viable solution so not many people are researching it. I will see if I can find any research being done where it could be used at a large scale.
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Pumped hydro andcompressed air energy storage technologies are mature, cost effectiveand reliable technologies that are used for large scale storage withfrequent cycling capabilities. However, research is still needed to im-prove their round-trip efficiencies
Both of these technologies at surface value are fairly simple; they just involve a turbine being turned by some medium and creating electricity. However, they need to become more sophisticated before they can be applied at grid scale.
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For large-scale electrical energy storage (e.g., energy from renewableenergy sources) using batteries,flow batteries seem to be the mostsuitable options, although costs and electrolyte development remainchallenges.
Flow batteries are one of the technologies I want to focus the rest of my research on, as they seem to be one of the most viable options and a lot of research is being done on them.
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Batteries are likely to be the cheapestenergy storage option for applications with relatively fewer numbers ofcycles
Batteries may not be the grid-scale solution, but will continue to be used in many applications including at a larger scale than they are now.
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the technology thatbrings the most capacity to market is likely to become the most cost-competitive. For example, they indicate that once cumulative deploy-ment of redox-flow and utility-scale Li-ion systems have reached 7 GWhand 33 GWh
This is interesting because one of the biggest problems with Li-ion batteries is their cost. If their capacity was high enough, would they become economically competitive?
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In estimations of O&Mcosts, monetary values are often not assigned to CO2emission reduc-tions that result from integrating energy storage technologies with en-ergy systems.
It's kind of sad that economic viability is such a critical factor in the transition to green energy. I wish our motivation could simply be to make the world a better place, but that's just not how it works.
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Note thatflywheels and capacitors (both types) are among the cheaper energystorage technologies when higher power outputs are required. Thesesystems are often used in the transmission and distribution subsystemsof electric power systems. Pumped hydro and compressed air systemsthat are often applied in generation subsystems have the lowest capitalcosts per unit energy stored.
From my understanding, energy density is more important than power density for grid-scale renewable energy storage, so the cheapest options would be pumped hydro and compressed air.
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A single layer of graphene with little agglom-eration is expected to exhibit high surface area and thus yield higherspecific capacitance in a supercapacitor application.
Fun fact: this single-layer graphene is created by simply using scotch tape to peal a one-molecule thick layer off a chunk of graphite. It has many applications.
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Thermalanalyses of PCM uses in building envelope (e.g., walls,floors, ceilingsand windows) demonstrate that they can be effective in shifting heatingand cooling loads from peak electrical demand periods to off-peakperiods or in storing solar energy for use in hours when solar radiationis not available[120]. However, due to various PCM thermophysicalproperties and incorporation methods, investigations are needed toevaluate and compare cost, efficiency, environmental impact, life cycle,and practicability of various options under various weather and ex-perimental conditions[119].
An analysis of physical conditions would most likely be necessary at any location where an energy storage system is to be installed. This could be an example of a barrier to the transition to green energy, because this type of analysis will take time and money.
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storage capacity, maximum charge and dis-charge power, depth of charge, durability, specific cost of storage,maximum self discharge rate, storage weight, and generated energy/cost savings
This could be a useful list to keep in mind as I compare various methods of energy storage.
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the total netpresent cost of the wind/battery and hybrid renewable energy systemsis increased, making the PV/battery system the most advantageous forsupplying the electrical load requirements
The PV/battery system was the most advantageous for this specific application, but there may have been a different conclusion if a different location was selected. That is one thing that makes renewable energy difficult to implement; things like weather patterns that are unpredictable and uncontrollable can have a large impact on the energy available.
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Díaz-González et al.[107]review several energy storage technolo-gies for wind power applications, including gravitational potential en-ergy with water reservoirs, compressed air, electrochemical energy inbatteries andflow batteries, chemical energy in fuel cells, kinetic en-ergy inflywheels, magneticfields in inductors, and electricfields incapacitors.
I should keep in mind that the best energy storage methods will likely differ based on the type of renewable energy being used.
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3.3. Renewable energy utilization
This entire section is especially relevant to my research.
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storing energy during periods of low demand for use during periodsof high demand
The time that energy is available from intermittent energy sources doesn't always line up with when the highest demand for electricity occurs.
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Hybrid energystorage (combining two or more energy storage types) is sometimesused, usually when no single energy storage technology can satisfy allapplication requirements effectively.
It is likely that the solution to the world's energy storage issue isn't just one method of energy storage. A combination of methods based on various factors will need to be used.
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Fig. 10.A classification of energy storage types
another very useful visual to organize my research and narrow down my focus of storage types
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Winter[71]describes the hydrogeneconomy, its environmental and climatic relevance, its positive influ-ence on the energy quality of the system, its effect on decarbonizingfossil fueled power plants, and the novel non-heat-engine-related elec-trochemical energy converter fuel cell in portable electronics, in sta-tionary and mobile applications.
This sounds very interesting; I would love to learn more about what it would look like to only use hydrogen instead of electricity.
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Tomitigate environmental issues of PHES systems, developers are pro-posing innovative ways of addressing the environmental impacts, in-cluding the potential use of waste water in PHES applications
This is a really cool idea. I work for a wastewater treatment company and I can see why this would make a lot of sense. Companies would have economic incentive to use wastewater for PHES because they would avoid government surcharges and fines from discharging contaminated water into the environment, as long as the PHES is a closed system.
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If conditionsare met, it is a suitable option for renewable energy storage as well asthe grid. The energy efficiency of PHES systems varies between 70–80%and they are commonly sized at 1000–1500 MW[59].
When excess energy is available, it can be used to pump water to a higher elevation. When there is a shortage of energy, the water can run through a turbine and create electricity. If all conditions are met, this solves the problem of intermittent energy.
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For a given amount ofliquid air in a tank of 5000 m3, it is shown in a case study that the CAESvolume would be approximately 310,000 m3
Wouldn't the energy required to maintain cryogenic temperatures outweigh the lower volume of liquid air? I guess the volume difference is so drastic and the cryogenic chambers are so well insulated that the liquid air is more efficient.
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to the need for balancing effects of intermittent renewable energy pe-netration in the grid
I think this is referring to the fact that with intermittent energy sources there will sometimes be excess energy available, which can be used to compress air, and then when there is a shortage of available energy the compressed air can be released.
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In compressed air energy storage (CAES) systems, air is compressedand stored in an underground cavern or an abandoned mine when ex-cess energy is available. Upon energy demand, this pressurized air canbe released to a turbine to generate electricity.
This is a very simple technology compared to the other methods but it could be very effective.
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High power density isdesirable in vehicles where a large peak power is needed when accel-erating and a large power becomes available for storage in a short timewhen braking.
The kinetic energy from the car moving can be stored when it stops and then used to accelerate once again.
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Much research is focused on rotor materialsand design and speeds of up to 10,000 rpms can now be achieved
I'm amazed at how fast this is - rpms is rotations per millisecond.
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Achieving high rotational velocity, with high power density, infly-wheels is desirable since the energy stored is proportional to the squareof the velocity but only linearly proportional to the mass.
Basically, a faster flywheel is better than a bigger flywheel.
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achieved energy efficiencies of 45% at the laboratory scale
From my experience in labs I'm not surprised that the efficiency is this low, but I do wonder what exactly is preventing them from getting a higher recovery of the energy they put into the system.
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Since energy losses during storage are smaller for thermochemical en-ergy storage than for sensible or latent TES, thermochemical energystorage has good potential for long-term storage applications
This makes sense because with sensible and latent energy storage, the material will constantly be losing heat to heat transfer as much as you try to insulate it. With thermochemical storage, the products of the first reaction are stable and won't give off heat until they are allowed to react.
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Fig. 7.Processes involved in a thermochemical energy storage cycle
- very helpful figure to visualize thermochemical energy storage
- breaking bonds is endothermic so heat must be added
- the products then must be stored separately so they don't react
- the reaction of the two initial products is spontaneous and when they are allowed to react they will release heat
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Thermochemical energy storage systems utilize chemical reactionsthat require or release thermal energy. They have three operatingstages: endothermic dissociation, storage of reaction products, andexothermic reaction of the dissociated products
- start with an endothermic reaction where heat is added
- the product is now stable and can be stored for a long time
- by then performing the reverse exothermic reaction, you get back the heat that you put into the system to begin with
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Fig. 5.Aquifer heat storage
The figure on the left would cool the house while the figure on the right would heat it.
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An example is a ground heat storage systemcoupled to a building to store the heat that is removed from the buildingin the summer in the ground and use it in cooler seasons when heatingis needed in the building.
I think this is a really cool concept; you can literally store heat in the ground to be used months later. I wonder how systems like this keep the heat energy from escaping the system by any method of heat transfer. I imagine that some amount of heat must be lost if it is actually being stored for months at a time.
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ypical phase change materials(PCMs) used as the storage media include paraffin waxes, esters, fattyacids and salt hydrates, eutectic salts, and water
This list of materials makes sense as they all generally have melting points in a range that is easy to achieve with simple technology.
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Latentheat storage has attracted considerable attention recently, primarilydue to the isothermal nature of the phase-change process, and its lowerweight per unit of storage capacity and compactness.
As heat is added to a material undergoing a phase change, the energy of that material increases without changing temperature. This could be beneficial over sensible heat because it removes temperature from the equation and will make things like storage conditions more simple, and therefore more cost effective.
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The redoxflow battery is suitable forutility-scale renewable energy storage applications. The mainflowbattery designs are polysulphide bromide (PSB), vanadium redox (VRB)and zinc bromide (ZnBr)
Flow batteries could very well be the solution to the energy storage issue.
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Batteries can store up to 30 times more charge perunit mass than supercapacitors. This high energy density is achieved bystoring charge in the bulk of a material. However, supercapacitors candeliver up to thousands of times the power of a battery of the same massas they only store energy by surface adsorption reactions of chargedspecies on an electrode material.
batteries have high energy density, supercapacitors have high power density
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Ru et al.[19]suggest aluminum-ionbatteries as the most suitable candidate to replace Li-ion batteries dueto their abundant resources, cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness aswell as their potential for fast charging speed and long life. Such ad-vantages could make them suitable to support power generation fromrenewable energy sources. However, their energy density, cell capacityand cycle stability may still need to be improved before commerciali-zation.
It seems like a lot of the reason Li-ion batteries are so abundant is just because it was one of the first battery chemistries discovered, but there may be much better options. Would aluminum-ion batteries be better than Li-ion batteries at a small scale too?
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solid-state batteries that use solid electrolytesinstead of liquid ones could meet the need for higher energy and power
This is interesting - I don't know much about solid-state batteries.
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Fig. 2.Categorization of energy storage topics in the current article
This is a very useful visual that can help organize my research.
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energy that can bestored in Li–air (based on aqueous or non-aqueous electrolytes) andlithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries and compare it with that for Li-ion bat-teries, and discuss cell operation and development challenges.
I'm interested to see the difference between Li-air, Li-ion, and Li-sulfur. Why are Li-ion batteries so widespread commericially in things like laptops and cell phones?
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As strategiesto improve the performance of Li-ion batteries, Nitta et al. suggest (a)reducing dimensions of active materials, (b) formation of composites,(c) doping and functionalization, (d) tuning particle morphology, (e)formation of coatings or shells around active materials, and (f) mod-ification of the electrolyte
Technically, we currently have the technology available to create grid-scale energy storage, but it's just not economically viable. Li-ion batteries could be used at a large scale, but they are very expensive and can be dangerous. In addition to developing new battery chemistries, there is research being done to make current chemistries like Li-ion safer and more economically viable at a large scale.
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Various types exist including lithium-ion (Li-ion), sodium-sulphur (NaS), nickel-cadmium (NiCd), lead acid(Pb-acid), lead-carbon batteries, as well as zebra batteries (Na-NiCl2)andflow batteries
A lot of energy-storage research is based around finding cheaper chemicals to be used for batteries that can still store a lot of energy. It is unclear whether the solution to the energy storage issue will simply be a new battery chemistry or a new technology altogether.
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Other types of energy storagesuch as biological energy storage are not focused on in this paper sincethey have not been the object of extensive research from a storage pointof view
I am going to try to avoid biological energy storage and other forms of energy storage not covered in this paper in my research, because they likely don't have enough information available on them.
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It is important that more general reviewscovering all energy storage types are performed to provide better in-sights on their differences, potential integration opportunities, andneeded policy development
I am starting with this article to gain a better sense of what specific energy storage methods I want to focus on - as I won't be able to research every method in depth.
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Short-term energy sto-rage typically involves the storage of energy for hours to days, whilelong-term storage refers to storage of energy from a few months to aseason (3–6 months)
Both short and long term energy storage is necessary. With solar energy, for example, short term is needed for day vs. night; long term is needed for summer vs. winter.
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When generated energy is notavailable for a long duration, a high energy density device that canstore large amounts of energy is required. When the discharge period isshort, as for devices with charge/dischargefluctuations over shortperiods, a high power density device is needed
- high energy density is needed for renewable energy sources like wind and solar
- high power density is needed for energy sources like fossil fuels
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electrochemical and battery energy storage, thermal energy storage, thermochemical energy storage,flywheel energy storage, compressed air energystorage, pumped energy storage, magnetic energy storage, chemical and hydrogen energy storage
This is a helpful list of the main energy storage technologies available.
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Energy sources like fossil fuels can be used to provide energy accordingto customer demand, i.e. they are readily storable when not required.But other sources such as solar and wind energy need to be harvestedwhen available and stored until needed.
This is the major reason energy storage is such a critical issue for solving climate change; renewable energy sources like wind and solar aren't available all the time so they need to be effectively stored if they are the only source of energy being used.
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