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> Throwing energy away is counterproductive, and Energy-to-Hydrogen-to-Energy throws away lots of it. Energy to plants to biofuels throws away nearly all the e
by tuatoru 4y ago
> Throwing energy away is counterproductive, and Energy-to-Hydrogen-to-Energy throws away lots of it.
Energy to plants to biofuels throws away nearly all the energy. More than all of it, by some accountings.
What are the alternatives for those use cases in which batteries are infeasible?
- WorldMaker 4y agoPumped hydro (water) is about 81% efficient and easy enough to build with centuries of experience at this point. There's also battery systems outside of Lithium Ion formulations which have other use cases. Thermal batteries are an interesting alternative in some use cases, particularly where fast access to heat in addition to electricy is handy (such as in collaboration with building HVAC and water heaters). But also in general as we keep finding new density scales in the Lithium Ion formulations (and as we have hope to potentially discover even more formulations beside that) the number of use cases where batteries are infeasible keeps shrinking.
- schiffern 4y agoYou'll never hear me defend biofuels. The alternatives are mostly * better batteries * heat pumps to replace oil burners * methane or ammonia for the remaining uses (eg trans-oceanic); globally shipping and aviation together account for only 8% of petroleum use With a universal carbon tax everything would automatically self-organize into the most efficient solution, but of course we can't do that.
- tuatoru 4y agoOff-road land use probably accounts for another few percent. It's hard to imagine heavy forestry, farming, and earthmoving equipment being powered by batteries.
- schiffern 4y agoWhy not? It seems like the real problem is a lack of imagination. Are there some challenges? Of course. Are they insoluble? I can't see why they would be.