New method could finally answer question of how to store energy
The term ‘cryogenic-power’ may seem better placed in sci-fi
films than in the real world, but the Institute of Mechanical Engineers believe
they have made this idea a reality with their development of ‘liquid air’
technology.
IMechE have proposed the idea of using the excess energy
generated by wind turbines at night (‘wrong-time’ energy) can be used to chill
air to a liquid state. Then, when energy demands are
higher, the ‘liquid air’ can be reheated until it becomes a vapour, which can
then be used to drive turbines to generate electricity.
Not only would this solve the problems of energy storage and ‘wrong-time’
energy, but it could also help with the problems of industrial heat waste that
is currently being released into the atmosphere, as these ‘cryo-generators’ could
be built near power plants where they could reuse this left-over heat to warm
the stored ‘liquid air’.
Engineers at IMechE believe that this method can be an
efficiency level of up to 70% and can compete with hydrogen and batteries (that
have an efficiency level of around 80%) to store excess energy generated by
renewable energy forms.
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