Scientists unlock the secrets of sand for revolutionary energy storage

Image credit: Temperature Master

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Sand batteries ahead? It’s no secret that sand holds heat quite well.
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Have you ever raced across a hot beach and noticed how warm the sand gets?

That simple experience hints at a powerful idea that could change how we store energy, says Knowridge.

Researchers are now looking at heated sand as a promising solution to store energy for the future.

Unlike the batteries we usually think of for storing energy, this method offers a new and potentially game-changing approach.

Batteries are great for storing energy for a short time, but we need something more for long-term storage. That’s where technologies like thermal energy storage (TES) come in.

TES isn’t limited by location like pumped storage hydropower, which needs reservoirs at different elevations. Instead, it can use materials like molten salt or even superheated rocks – and now, sand.

Sand is pretty much everywhere, making it an accessible and environmentally friendly option for storing energy.

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a technology that heats sand using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

This hot sand is then stored in a silo and can be used later to generate electricity or provide heat for industrial processes.

Their tests have shown that this method can keep more than 95% of its heat for at least five days.

Jeffrey Gifford, a postdoctoral researcher at NREL, points out that this method doesn’t depend on rare or hard-to-get materials like some batteries do. This makes sand a more sustainable and ethical choice for storing energy.

One of the biggest advantages of using sand is the cost. It’s much cheaper than other energy storage methods.

Full article here.
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Image credit: Temperature Master