Better Batteries With Bodi - by Tony - The Polymerist
Even if we could replace all of our energy generation with renewables such as solar and wind we would 1) still need to extract petroleum to make the materials we use everyday and 2) we would be sitting in the dark at night without a viable energy storage technology that we can scale. I’ve written extensively about what we need to do for 1, but I’ve given zero attention to how polymers will play a critical role in 2. Energy storage is just as important as renewable energy generation.
There are a whole bunch of interesting ways to store energy according to the EPA. We could pump water up a tower or to the top of the hill and let it fall to spin a turbine. We can compress air and let it release to spin a turbine. We can store energy in the form of heat and pump it around for when we need heat. Then there is everyone’s favorite–batteries.
Tesla and other companies have tried to do grid level storage with lithium ion batteries. The problem with traditional lithium ion batteries is fires. GM had to tell Bolt owners to not store their cars in garages for fear of fires until a recall could be performed. Tesla has had their share of cars still going up in flames. The FAA reportedly deals with at least one fire per week due to lithium ion batteries. This is just for electric vehicles and personal electronics. When batteries are big enough to keep whole cities or towns up and running at night we are talking about massive battery installations. Tesla had grid storage projects catch fire in 2021 and 2022. For those investing in these grid storage deals, safety and longevity of the investment are important factors to consider before investing millions even though it might be the right thing to do long term.
