By Paul Homewood
Dr Lars Schernikau exposes the harsh reality about grid-scale batteries:
My first moped when I was fourteen, back in East Berlin, had no starter battery. The only way to get it running was to kickstart it which, back then, seemed perfectly normal. Batteries were expensive and heavy.
My current modern motorcycle (apologies to the Harley owners, because as a German I ride a BMW ) has a battery powerful enough to drive it in reverse and operate a complex control and entertainment system.
Batteries have evolved, they have become better, more efficient, safer, and lasting longer, and today entire cars run on batteries for hundreds of kilometers. But it doesn’t stop there.
The expansion of grid-scale (or utility-scale) batteries for providing grid storage especially for solar is one of the “hottest” topics of the “energy transition” these days. For instance, many provinces in China still have the mandatory requirement that solar projects are to include battery storage. There is no doubt that utility-scale batteries have many benefits, but let’s honestly consider what batteries do to our environment and to the net energy efficiency.
It is therefore high time that we explore the capabilities and short-comings of grid-scale batteries, the production thereof and the impact they have on our energy systems.
Read the full post here.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
August 21, 2025 at 11:01AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 