For years, the ‘duck curve’ of low daytime demand due to cheap solar power has challenged energy planners. California is showing the solution is storage.
Australia has all the key ingredients to build a booming battery industry. We just need to find the right cooks and co-ordinate all of this frantic activity to get this big opportunity right.
Two forms of the same boron nitride molecules couldn’t look and act more different – but combining them could lead to applications that have the best of both worlds.
The Australian Labor government’s expanded Capacity Investment Scheme gives us a better chance of hitting high renewable energy targets. It’s not without risk but well worth the rewards.
Storing energy in large pumped hydro schemes sounds simple. But engineering and terrain challenges have put Snowy 2.0 well off track – while grid-scale batteries get better and better
Nearly 400 new mines could open by 2035 to meet demand for the minerals used in global electrification. Better recycling can help with supply, but mining’s impacts will have to be better managed.
Lithium extraction in Bolivia poses more than environmental questions: It illustrates how notions about ‘raw materials’ can be at odds with Indigenous relations with the land.
Solar thermal technology has the potential to provide both long-duration storage and industrial heat, yet it has been largely overlooked in the Australian context. That is about to change.
Will Gorman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Bentham Paulos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A study of real-world disasters shows home solar and storage could keep the lights on and the air conditioner running during many outages, but not all.