Charge, Baby, Charge

As climate change becomes more extreme and the global population continues to expand, there is an urgent need to find sustainable, affordable, and equitable ways to meet our energy needs.

Transitioning away from fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and geothermal, is the first major step to be taken. The ability to harness electricity from wind, geothermal and solar sources is not only possible but is already being implemented all over the world.

Uruguay, for example, has transformed its energy sector, moving from oil dependency to generating 98% of its electricity from renewable sources. In Africa, Kenya is a leader in renewable energy, with geothermal power accounting for nearly half of its electricity generation. By 2026, it is estimated that wind energy will power 30% of Spain, 17% of the Netherlands and 23% of Germany.

The challenge, however, is finding ways to store the energy for future use. Battery energy storage - the process of storing energy from renewable sources in giant battery cells - has quickly become a promising solution in the clean energy industry, but also presents its own problems.

Charge, Baby, Charge

The American Clean Power Association describes renewable energy storage as similar to charging your phone at night, allowing systems to "efficiently and conveniently capture electricity so that it can be used when it's most needed."

One issue with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, however, is their 'intermittency,' or the natural unpredictability of their availability. Since these forms of energy come from particular weather conditions (the presence of sun or wind), production levels can fluctuate or cease altogether when those conditions change.

Energy storage systems enable the "stockpiling" of energy, allowing it to be stored away and saved for - quite literally - a rainy day.

In the case of lithium-ion battery storage, which is just one type of energy capture and storage, individual battery cells are housed in large units resembling shipping containers, which can store between 100-800 total megawatts (MW) of energy. (For reference, 1 MW of solar energy can power the average American home for 1.2 months.) As lithium battery technology advances this storage ability will increase, which is why many places are looking to this form of storage as a means of meeting growing demand for electricity and sustainability goals.

One such place is the state of California. In fact, California is responsible for over half of the United States' current energy storage capacity and plans to continue building storage sites across the state in an effort to meet their ambitious Climate Action Plan. Among other things, this plan aims to both reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 85% and become completely carbon-neutral by 2045. Not surprisingly, California hosts the world's largest battery storage plant, Edwards & Sanborn Solar Plus Storage Project, located in Kern County, California, and stretching across more than 4,000 acres of land.

While all of this may sound encouraging, the long-term viability of battery storage is unclear. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events, ironically due to climate change, are putting stress on infrastructure systems around the world, but in some cases, the systems themselves have the capability of intensifying climate-related events.

Aside from being one of the largest states in the United States, California is also one of the country's hottest, driest, and most wildfire and drought-vulnerable regions in the US. Lithium-ion battery storage sites are known to carry the risk of electrical and chemical fires, the latter of which release toxic fumes and are notoriously difficult to put out, and therefore have the potential to spread to surrounding areas if not contained efficiently.

There have been 24 recorded battery storage site failures in the U.S. since 2011, 9 of which occurred in California. Most recently, on September 5th, a fire broke out at one of San Diego Gas & Electric's battery storage sites in Escondido, California. The fire only affected one of the site's 24 lithium-ion battery cells, but the incident, which occurred in the midst of discussions about a proposed new site in the area, only heightened community fears about battery storage.

Battery storage sites are also controversial for reasons including noise pollution, as these sites are often located very close to residential areas, and the sheer amount of space and building materials - including the lithium and cobalt required for the batteries, the mining of which is extremely labor-intensive and environmentally destructive.

In addition, the performance of lithium-ion battery cells tends to diminish over time, causing many to express concerns regarding how to dispose of them when they are no longer useful.

Shortly after the Escondido fire, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors met to discuss whether to ban the development of new lithium-ion battery plants in the county. Ultimately, they decided against a moratorium, but they did vote in favor of stronger policies and safety regulations regarding storage system operations and reporting on fire-suppression efforts.

Not Just Lithium Batteries

Batteries are not the only way of storing energy, however. Other methods include thermal storage (involving heating and cooling various compounds) flywheels (a mechanical system which can store and provide bursts of short-term power supply), and pumped hydropower.

Pumped hydropower, which accounts for more than 95% of current energy storage, involves using turbines to pump water using excess electricity into a reservoir which can later be opened - in periods of high energy demand - to allow the water to flow back down through the reservoirs and produce electricity.

Nevertheless, lithium ion battery storage is still the favored method at this time. Battery storage has a smaller footprint than other energy storage methods, as each small battery cell can provide a large amount of energy. Due to falling prices of lithium-ion batteries in recent years, which have been attributed to the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, lithium-ion battery storage has also become more cost-effective than other energy storage strategies.

Despite the various associated risks, the prevalence of battery storage in the United States (and around the world) continues to grow. A renewable energy company in Shelbyville, Kentucky recently proposed a $712 million battery plant, which would provide almost 1,600 jobs, and, according to Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, allow the state to continue addressing its economic development goals.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 300 "utility-scale battery storage projects" are expected to be established nationally by 2025, with the majority located in Texas and California.

Energy storage is widely considered to be critical to reaching climate and sustainability goals, and, while other energy storage technologies are currently being developed, battery storage is - at least for now - an important investment in our collective future.

Will we continue to see increases in battery storage sites ten or twenty years down the road? Time will tell. But it is clear that in the meantime, our priorities must lie in mitigating risk and ensuring the safety of workers, local residents, and other stakeholders.

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