A small Finnish town has turned to the world's largest commercial sand battery to tackle a major hurdle in the energy transition: intermittency.
  • atro_city@fedia.io
    4·
    1 个月前

    I thought it was like pumped hydro but using sand! Now I’m disappointed. Still cool though, but storing heat is not a long-term solution, is it?

    • Diplomjodler@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      1 个月前

      Yes it is. The heat from the sand battery can be used throughout the winter. All you need is good insulation.

    • joelthelion@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      8·
      1 个月前

      I think of it as a simpler alternative to pumped hydro when all you need is heat. It kind of dumb to waste the great pumped hydro resources that can store electricity on heating stuff. So, this can cover their heating needs during bad weather, and they can used pumped hydro for the rest.

    • VibeSurgeon@piefed.socialEnglish
      6·
      1 个月前

      Removing industrial and transportation, heating represents is more than half of the energy use in Finland. Being able to store it and use later - particularly in district heating applications - is definitely a long-term solution