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The battery storage for a 100%-renewables grid is building itself; billions of appliance batteries are acting as virtual power plants. (www.technologyreview.com)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/futurology@futurology.today
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"If every stove in America were shipped with a battery, it would add up to tens of gigawatts of power, Calisch said. That’s capacity that can be aggregated and tapped when the grid is stressed."

Back of an envelope calculation: 100 million distributed batteries × 10 kWh each = 1,000 GWh = 1 TWh. If those batteries could each provide 5 kW: 100 million × 5 kW = 500 GW. That would be comparable to, or larger than, the entire short-duration storage requirement in some US 100%-clean-grid scenarios.

Of all the many forces working in renewables favor, here's another. The grid storage a 100%-renewables grid needs can be largely self-building. Decentralized self-building systems always win out against inefficient centralized systems in the end.

How smaller, distributed batteries could help the grid

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[–] 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Batteries last for a long time, and there are different battery chemistries like sodium ion that don't require the same rare earth metals. Also even if it's using chemistries that need elements like cobalt (which is not at all necessary for this purpose), the metals in batteries are recyclable. The stuff only needs to be mined once, and if it's replacing fossil fuels that require continuous extraction and environmental harm to human and natural spaces, it's a win. I think pumped hydro has a place, but that doesn't mean other solutions are bad.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Batteries last for a long time

    Then you're thinking on way too short of a timeline...

    And you're acting like sodium is ready to go...

    Not even getting into how even with distributed backup batteries, sticking them in random appliances doesn't make any sense.

    Like, at least argue for distributed battery backup. Even at individual home level that would be inefficient, but tying them into a stove, refrigerator or fucking microwave just because they're already plugged into a wall is completely nonsensical.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    CATL is mass manufacturing sodium batteries this moment. It's totally ready to go.

    And batteries can last a long time. There was a lot of fearmongering about EV lifespans, but they often last longer than gas cars.

    Distributed power storage can be decently efficient, especially if paired with residential solar, and it has benefits for outage resilience and reducing demand on the grid.

    Using EV batteries for this makes sense because the batteries are there anyway, but I think separate home battery banks makes sense too. And while I don't think they make sense for new construction and they are quite expensive, the battery stoves are reasonable if you want a high power electric stove and a battery backup without rewiring your home.

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