The global energy chaos can be avoided if the electricity supply matches the electricity demand. Usage of conventional energy sources such as coal may solve a bit of the problem but the cost that the environment pays is immensely destructive. The renewable energy though partially answers the question but the most vital constraint related to the renewable energy is the storage part.
Recently Prof. Donald Sadoway from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, US, along with some of his students came up with a solution to the gigantic problem – Gigantic liquid metal batteries.
Prof. Sadoway was inspired from the very basic model of the battery. The very first invention by Alessandro Volta’s in the early 1800s that only required two electrodes, metals of different compositions, and an electrolyte.
He hired a few students from the university, seeded the same idea in their minds and set them loose. The Professor also got part of his inspiration from the aluminium production; which involves huge economy of scale. The production includes combining liquid metal and molten salt at high temperatures allowing current to be passed through the solution. This initiated the idea for the liquid metal battery. Molten salt was stuffed between molten magnesium on the top and antimony in the bottom.
Perhaps Prof. Sadoway’s ideology to question the conventional and the mainstream ideas can be seen in his speech. Here are some words of wisdom from the genius.
Perhaps Prof. Sadoway’s ideology to question the conventional and the mainstream ideas can be seen in his speech. Here are some words of wisdom from the genius.
To get ourselves out of the energy crisis we need to invent ourselves out of it.
If you want to make something dirt cheap, make it out of dirt.
We choose to work on grid level storage not because it is easy, but because it is hard. get ourselves out of the energy crisis we need to invent ourselves out of it.
If you want to make something dirt cheap, make it out of dirt.
We choose to work on grid level storage not because it is easy, but because it is hard.