Category Archives: Sustainability

Here’s an interesting article from the MIT  supply chain blog.  Are large simple batteries a solution to the problem of energy storage for peak periods?

A Disruptive Innovation in the Energy Supply Chain | Supply Chain @ MIT.

Well, who knows? I don’t see any calculations here.  For instance, how many of these shipping container sized battery packs would it take to hold enough power for my apartment community (100 homes) for a rainy day when our solar panels (assuming we had them) would not work?   One apartment’s worth? Two? A dozen?

For instance at the US Cold warehouse in Wilmington IL, we need to have power 100% of the time for refrigerated products that constantly arrive, are stored, and move out to retailers.  How big a parking lot would we need for the containers full of batteries, in addition to the space we have for our inbound and outbound trucks?   I can see how a power company might use some to support their solar or wind power efforts, perhaps securing a few sections in the Arizona desert to place the batteries next to the giant solar farm or wind farm deployed there.

It’s certainly a good idea to make batteries out of materials that are not too hazardous.  And I think we are in a materials revolution right now that will change how we think about lots of problems.