The emerging market for energy storage
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 9 June 2022
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Oil and gas prices have risen sharply after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and as a result many countries have signalled a move towards more renewable energy. One of the challenges for the future will be how to store energy produced by wind and solar power so it can be used at the right times. Professor Seamus Garvey and a team at the University of Nottingham tell us about their prototype machine which uses compressed air and heated gravel to tackle this problem. We also hear from Professor Mara Prentiss of the University of Harvard on the science behind these new ideas, and Heymi Bahar of the International Energy Agency to give an overview of this sector at the moment.
Presenter/Producer: Hannah Bewley Image: Wind turbines and solar panels; Credit: Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Hannah Buley and today we're talking about this. |
| 0:05.0 | When the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, renewable energy can be generated in abundance, |
| 0:13.0 | especially in places like the UK and Northern Europe. |
| 0:17.0 | But the weather here can also be unpredictable. |
| 0:20.0 | The big question for the future of renewable energy is |
| 0:23.6 | what happens when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing? |
| 0:27.6 | Well, machines like this one are being invented. |
| 0:31.6 | That's loud. What's happening? |
| 0:34.6 | Okay, so right now we're running our engine. |
| 0:36.6 | This is just at low speed. |
| 0:39.3 | We're just turning it over. |
| 0:40.3 | And what you can hear is the electric motor. |
| 0:43.3 | Existing solutions to energy storage, like batteries, |
| 0:46.3 | pumped hydropower and hydrogen will all play a part in energy storage in the future. |
| 0:51.3 | But some innovative solutions are being dreamed up. |
| 1:00.3 | Then you have hot salt, and then the heat from the salt is used to generate high-pressure gas, |
| 1:01.6 | which turns the turbines. |
| 1:06.4 | With the price of fossil fuels rising rapidly since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many countries have signaled a push towards more renewable energy. |
| 1:10.2 | We'll find out more about the technology |
| 1:11.7 | needed to support that on today's Business Daily from the World Service. |
| 1:17.9 | In the future, when you switch on a light, turn on your radio, or make a phone call. |
| 1:29.0 | The energy used to do this might have passed through hot gravel, molten salt or large blocks moving up and down caverns. |
... |
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