Not even three months ago I wrote,
There is a very good chance that within the next 20 or so years, the electricity storage problem will be licked. Effectively and efficiently.
And now there is news that effective, efficient electricity storage is likely within the next year or two [h/t Jack].
They will have [graphene polymer] batteries for home, mobile, aircraft also produce for bicycles, motorbikes, cars and drones. Grabat has achieved a battery with a range of 800 kilometers and a weight of just 100 kilograms that can be loaded into a conventional outlet only one - third the time required by a lithium-ion-lithium equivalent (which are riding automakers in their electric models). Mario Martinez said in a high-density plug "could be loaded in just five minutes."
I'm always a bit skeptical about such "gee-whiz" announcements, but if this is even close to correct, then keep in mind my other suggestions about the future:
- If so, then within the next 20-30 years [update: or now much sooner?], solar and wind power will be able to overcome their major obstacle: the storage of energy for times when electrical energy is in high demand and for times when production is otherwise not sufficient to satisfy the quantities demanded at the then current prices. Furthermore, once the storage problem is solved so that electricity can be stored at a low cost, there will added innovative activity to produce cheaper and better solar panels and wind-energy sources.
- If so, private uses of solar and wind power will become feasible all over, and not just in North America, but throughout the world.
- If this prediction is right, watch for oil and natural gas prices to sink, not rise.
- If this prediction is right, watch for nuclear energy plants to be re-mothballed.
Sure, some gas and coal-fired electricity plants will have to be kept operational, but that would only be as backups and to handle peak load problems. The bulk of our electricity will be provided via solar and wind energy.
And it won't be because the gubmnts subsidized solar panel installations now; it won't be because gubmnts subsidized hideous and hideously expensive wind farms now. It will be because once the storage problem is solved, buyers will rush into the market and producers will continue to develop better, more efficient products (as they do in EVERY field).
What about autos? There will be more electric cars, more electricity filling stations, and more hybrid cars as people make the transition. The transition will not be immediate and will be costly in some instances. (For example, the building I live in could not add plug-ins except at huge expense). Gasoline and gas-powered vehicles will not disappear, but they will diminish in popularity.
Farm implements and major equipment will be electric, powered from storage batteries that are recharged by electricity generated from solar (mostly) and some wind sources.
Instead of backup gasoline-powered electricity generators, people will keep backup batteries and electrical storage facilities.
Also, however, keep in mind the Ironman's caution, posted in a comment to my earlier post:
While I'm also hopeful that the energy storage problem for intermittent renewal energy production technologies like wind and solar will be resolved, there's another, bigger challenge that will need to be addressed for these alternative sources of energy to become genuinely practical: energy production density.To see what I mean, see the attached chart here:
http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim//2010/05/29/LandUseAndrews.JPG
Which is taken from the following article:
http://www.cnet.com/news/figuring-land-use-into-renewable-energy-equation/
To be practical, the ideal solutions for future renewable energy production would require smaller physical footprints than the sources they would replace. Otherwise, there will always be a requirement for the less desirable sources. Note however that the data doesn't consider the land use that would be required to make either solar or wind-produced energy more viable.
