- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/29105698
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46526992
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2095495622003485
cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/29105698
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46526992
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2095495622003485
China has also been delivering, so I wouldn’t bet against them.
A notorious example is Tesla, when they adopted the lithium-iron-phosphate batteries made by CATL because they were cheaper, safer and easier to build (no nickel or cobalt required).
Of course some of these articles are pure hype for vapourware, but this one’s sounding plausible - they claim to have engineered a structure that is negatively charged, while also physically preventing electrolyte crossover, and that this prevents degradation by two orders of magnitude.
It’s not preposterous, and might be enough to make these batteries usable on a massive scale…
As I wrote in other comments here in this post, the tech is not exactly new:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_redox_flow_battery
and it is e.g. in place in Sacramaneto, CA with a storage of 2 GWh and a maximum power of 200 MW.
Apparently it’s working and just need to be scaled up.
They don’t just need to work, they need to be economically viable.
These batteries have active components, since they actually pump the electrolyte, and there’s a fairly substantial level of degradation and corrosion, along with leaking across the membrane that leads to loss of capacity over time.
If some of these problems can be reduced (like the article claims they do) then they’re even more attractive.
I really hope this helps with massively expanding renewables storage, because that’s bastion holding up fossil fuels in electricity generation, and it will allow shutting down all those coal, gas, even nuclear plants!