The Rechargeable Cement Battery That Could Power the World
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While renewable energy is rapidly on the rise around the world, energy storage has somewhat lagged behind, leaving a gap in the feasibility of a carbon-neutral future. So scientists have to get a little creative.
This is a good start: In a new study that appears in the journal Buildings, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden say they’ve developed a way for buildings to be their own battery storage facilities, using the very cement that makes them.
Cement and its cousin concrete are the most used building materials in the world, made from powdered and sedimentary compounds that vary in conductivity based on what’s mixed in.
Damp, porous concrete is likely a pretty good conductor. So is, of course, concrete with metal in the mix, like rebar. Most concrete structures have some underlying or reinforcing metal structure. The result is a whole building that conducts—what’s called a structural battery.
