PNNL

Abstract

A long-range global energy production and use goal is to make a transition from carbon-based energy sources to an environmentally clean (e.g., non-carbon) energy economy. This difficult task may entail both an energy production aspect, such as electricity production from solar/wind/wave sources, and energy storage on a large scale. The energy storage component is required as a “buffer” since peak energy demand, say on the electrical grid, is not always in-phase with energy production. Traditional batteries, due to their high cost, cannot store energy on the large scale required as part of an energy buffering system.