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I just hate that headline. Batteries aren't a source of power! They are power storage. The same mistake is made with hydrogen all the time, it's storage not a
by metalliqaz 5y ago
I just hate that headline. Batteries aren't a source of power! They are power storage. The same mistake is made with hydrogen all the time, it's storage not a fuel.
- DarmokJalad1701 5y agoBatteries are used for the same purpose natural gas power plants are used for -- peak load supply.
- jfengel 5y agoTrue, but batteries are the less-well-solved half of the equation, to which the other half is renewable energy such as wind and solar. The headline is using "batteries" as a shortcut for that whole system, effectively treating the energy-generation step as a solved problem. It's not, but it's on its way at a rate which shifts a lot of focus to the storage part. The renewables have effectively made coal obsolete, though it still relies on existing systems (mostly natural gas, but also nuclear and hydro) to provide base load. Each of those has some environmental concern that batteries + renewables can mostly obviate.