In this talk, I will start by introducing metal hydrides and why they are a possible solution for energy storage. Next I will talk about batteries based on metal hydrides, and the problems arising as we are using the batteries alongside solutions currently being researched. I will also discuss how we can use them for gas storage, and the problems we are facing in this scenario.
In our day and age, one of the many problems humans experience is the increasing temperatures of planet earth caused by the increasing amounts of greenhouse gasses (GHG), such as CO2, methane and others, being released into the atmosphere.
One area where GHG are being released, is in the energy-generating sector where 65% of the produced energy came from coal/oil/gas and 25% comes from renewable energy sources, such as solar cells or windmills among others, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) report “Global Energy & CO2 Status Report 2017” (IEA, 2018). In the same report, it is also concluded that even though the energy generation of renewables increased by 6.3% from the previous year, oil demand rose by 1.6%, gas demand rose by 3%, and coal demand rose by 1% to produce energy compared to the demand from the previous year.
One way to mitigate the increasing demand for fossil fuels, is to install more renewable energy generation into the energy grid. One big problem with installing too much renewable energy generation in the form of solar cells and windmills is that the energy generation from these sources is not constant and as such cannot be used by themselves only. One possible solution to this problem is to install energy storage alongside with the renewable energy sources. This will help reduce the GHG emissions, since there is much less need for fossil fuels, and ensure that renewable energy sources can be used exclusively in the energy grid.
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