article thumbnail

Molten-Salt Battery Freezes Energy Over a Whole Season

Cars That Think

Especially for sources like wind and solar, which have discontinuous availability. While rechargeable batteries are the solution of choice for consumer-level use, they are impractical for grid-scale consideration. He expects the battery to retain over 80% of its charge in that period.

article thumbnail

New long-duration, extended capacity Na-Al battery design for grid storage

Green Car Congress

Researchers led by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have extended the capacity and duration of sodium-aluminum batteries. The new sodium-based molten salt battery uses two distinct reactions. The team previously reported a neutral molten salt reaction. Weller et al.

article thumbnail

Thermal Solar Goes Where PVs Can’t

Cars That Think

Global solar energy supplies are growing rapidly, with nearly 10 times as much solar capacity installed today as there was a decade ago. But even as the glossy rectangles become increasingly cheaper and ubiquitous, solar PV alone can't solve the nagging question: What to do when the sun isn't shining? It's flexible.

article thumbnail

Thermal Solar Goes Where PVs Can’t

Cars That Think

Global solar energy supplies are growing rapidly, with nearly 10 times as much solar capacity installed today as there was a decade ago. But even as the glossy rectangles become increasingly cheaper and ubiquitous, solar PV alone can't solve the nagging question: What to do when the sun isn't shining? It's flexible.

article thumbnail

UP Catalyst offering carbon-negative graphite for European battery supply chain

Green Car Congress

Conventional production of graphite not only takes place far away from battery manufacturing centers but also poses environmental challenges. The valuable mineral for electric vehicle (EV) batteries is now considered a critical raw material. Every battery manufacturer is challenged by insufficient raw materials.

Carbon 186
article thumbnail

Estonian startup UP Catalyst secures €2.09M; sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite from CO2

Green Car Congress

The pre-seed round was led by Sunly, a developer of wind and solar parks in the Baltics and Poland, and joined by Scottish Baltic Invest, an investment company linked to Interconnect Product Assembly (IPA), which specializes in the production of electro-mechanical solutions; and Little Green Fund that focuses on investments in cleantech innovation.

article thumbnail

Convert Oil Wells to Solve the Solar Storage Problem

Cars That Think

One of the main impediments to harnessing solar energy is storage. Solar batteries work as a short-term solution, but not when it comes to long-term storage or to power, say, an entire city. Solar energy and oil wells might sound like an odd combination, but the principle is similar to how geothermal energy would be harnessed.

Solar 113