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- 🥗 Next-Gen Renewable Energy Storage: Alternatives to Batteries
🥗 Next-Gen Renewable Energy Storage: Alternatives to Batteries
Mechanical engineering updates, hot jobs, best video games for engineers, and our Engineer of the Week is...
Abhishek Bhardwaj
March 21, 2024
This week, we're exploring alternative methods for storing renewable energy that inspire us to think beyond the usual battery technologies. These innovative energy storage methods present viable alternatives to accommodate our growing reliance on renewable energy sources. The new MechTech innovation section includes NASA’s advancements in cryotechnology for space exploration.
For industry updates, we have the world’s largest aircraft, which looks like a flying whale. We have kite-flying robots to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and we also have mapping techniques to avoid space debris.
🚨 Aerospace, from commercial space flight to deep space exploration, our newsletter propels your aerospace career on Friday, click here to subscribe now.
🔥 Today’s hot jobs as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com
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INDUSTRY UPDATES
✈️ Veteran V2500 jet engine runs on 100% sustainable fuel for the first time
IAE AG’s V2500 engine, which has over 30 years of service and has been tested with 100% SAF, will continue contributing to aviation.
🖌️ This ultra-black and thin coat can survive anything
The latest ultra-black coat absorbs 99.3 percent of light while being extremely durable in harsh conditions.
✈️ Radia’s WindRunner to be the world’s largest aircraft ever built
The WindRunner’s colossal dimensions dwarf even the biggest commercial aircraft. Can you guess what’s inside?
🛸 Navigating Space Junk
Innovative mapping technique aims to help spacecraft avoid debris and other objects between Earth and the moon.
🪁 Autonomous robots fly kites to monitor greenhouse gas emissions
Autonomous robots carry lightweight wireless gas sensors on helium kites to monitor emissions.
SPOTLIGHT
Innovative Renewable Energy Storage Beyond Batteries
Reports by the International Energy Agency point out that our global capacity for renewable energy between 2022-2027 could increase as much as it did in the past two decades. This rapid growth creates the need for innovative storage solutions that are efficient enough to manage the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. Here are four clever approaches, according to the World Economic Forum, that are changing the way we approach energy storage.
Gravity-Based Energy Storage
Energy Vault, an energy storage company, has introduced a gravity-based system that uses 30-tonne bricks to store potential energy. When renewable energy generation is high, the bricks are raised within a specialized structure, storing potential energy. Lowering the bricks releases this energy, converting it back into electricity. This system can be easily scaled based on energy storage requirements, offering a new way of harnessing and redistributing renewable energy.
Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
Hydropower is the most common way to produce renewable electricity. Similar principles apply to pumped hydroelectric storage, which involves pumping water to a higher elevation when energy demands are low and then releasing it through turbines to generate electricity when demands surge. Pumped hydroelectric facilities account for 94% of the world’s energy storage in use today, yet they have significant expansion potential.
Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)
CAES makes surplus energy available for future use by compressing air and storing it underground. Later, this pressurized air is expanded in a turbine that generates power. Although the CAES technology was developed in the 1870s, it is still underutilized, and only two commercial-scale plants are currently operating.
Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES)
LAES cools and compresses air into a liquid state at about -196°C by utilizing excess renewable energy. When needed, the liquid air is warmed and expanded into a gas that drives electricity turbines. Despite its reliance on readily available technology and a considerable lifespan of over 30 years, LAES's efficiency ranges between 50-70%, making it less efficient than lithium-ion batteries. However, it is still a viable option for large-scale energy storage.
MechTech Innovations - Cryogenics Powering NASA's Deep Space Quest
NASA is making advancements in cryogenic fluid management to support future space explorations, including the Artemis missions. Managing cryogenic fluids, such as liquid hydrogen, methane, and oxygen, is absolutely crucial for spacecraft propulsion and life support systems. These fluids must maintain their liquid form in space's challenging conditions, such as varying temperatures and low gravity.
NASA's Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) programs are focused on developing technologies to store large amounts of cryogenic fluids for extended periods and transfer them efficiently in space. Latest initiatives include reducing boil-off, improving fluid measurement in low gravity, and advancing fluid transfer techniques. Upcoming 2024-2025 demonstrations with industry partners like Eta Space, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance will test these technologies using liquid hydrogen.
 | Engineer of the WEEK 1910 - 1995Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar  Astrophysicist and Mathematician |
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, also known as simply Chandra, which means “Moon” in Sanskrit, was born in the British Indian Lahore, which is in present-day Pakistan. He won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for making critical discoveries about the later evolutionary phases of stars. The Chandrasekhar limit is one of his most noteworthy achievements. It defined the maximum mass a white dwarf star can bear before collapsing (1.4 solar masses). This concept eventually led to a better understanding of neutron stars, supernovas, and black holes. | |
MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS
👷🏼♀️ IO (2019)
This science fiction, post-apocalyptic film, explores environmental catastrophes and possible solutions to save the planet.
💡 The Current War (2017)
The historical drama film portrays the bitter rivalry between electricity giants Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
🧑🏭 Silkwood (1983)
A slightly older film about the ethics in engineering environments. It includes the true story of Karen Silkwood, a metallurgy worker who raises the question of health and safety violations.
🤖 Spare Parts (2015)
Based on a true story, Spare Parts is about a group of high school students participating in a robotics competition and going up against teams from prestigious universities with limited resources.
🏎️ Flash of Genius (2008)
The film tells the story of inventor Robert Kearns, who invented the intermittent windshield wiper and fought the automotive industry to get his invention recognized.
Here are the EVENTS you'll love:
Precision in Motion: Navigating the
World of Mechanical Engineering Innovations
Aug. 22 • 9 a.m. PT / noon ET
Designing Tomorrow: Insights for Engineers
Aug. 23 • 9 a.m. PT / noon ET
Merging Mechanics and Ingenuity: Webinar Series for
Mechanical Engineers
Aug. 22 • 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
Spider-like robotic AI arms can be attached to and controlled by humans Remember Doctor Octopus and his robotic tentacles in the 2004 movie Spider-Man 2? A Japanese robotics company has engineered.
Spider-like robotic AI arms can be attached to and controlled by humans Remember Doctor Octopus and his robotic tentacles in the 2004 movie Spider-Man 2? A Japanese robotics company has engineered.
Spider-like robotic AI arms can be attached to and controlled by humans Remember Doctor Octopus and his robotic tentacles in the 2004 movie Spider-Man 2? A Japanese robotics company has engineered.
 | Written by KASHYAP VYAS Science & Technology Writer
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