Molten salt
and human sweat: the weird batteries that could store renewable energy
The ultimate
goal of next-generation energy storage is finding scalable alternatives to
lithium, and innovative projects are leveraging everything from industrial
salts to human sweat to achieve this. A prominent overview published
by The Guardian highlights how unconventional storage
mediums are solving the renewable energy intermittency crisis.
Grid-Scale
Storage Technologies
Molten
Salt Storage
- Mechanism: Excess clean electricity heats
reservoirs of potassium and sodium nitrate to temperatures upwards of
560°C to 600°C.
- Discharge: The stored thermal energy is
circulated to generate high-temperature steam, which drives a spinning
turbine to produce electricity.
- Real-World Use: Active at the Crescent Dunes
solar scheme in Nevada and a massive 1GWh project in Denmark. It keeps
power stable for weeks.
Sand
Batteries
- Mechanism: Clean electricity heats crushed
soapstone or sand up to extreme thermal states.
- Real-World Use: Operating in Pornainen,
Finland, a 2,000-tonne sand battery provides 100MWh of thermal capacity to
heat local schools and municipal buildings, lasting up to a month in
summer.
Cryobatteries
(Liquid Air)
- Mechanism: Surplus renewable power cools
ambient air down to -196°C, condensing it into a liquid at 1/700th of its
original volume.
- Discharge: The liquid air is rewarmed to
expand back into a gas, driving a turbine when grid demand peaks.
- Real-World Use: The Carrington "liquid
air" project in Greater Manchester, UK.
Micro-Scale
and Personal Power
Sweat
Tech (Biofuel Cells)
- Mechanism: Thin, wearable patches capture
chemical compounds—specifically lactate—released in human sweat.
- Discharge: Embedded enzymes trigger a
biochemical reaction, stripping electrons from the sweat to generate
steady electricity.
- Real-World Use: Developed by researchers at the
Tokyo University of Science to power wearable health sensors without
relying on bulky, chemical-heavy batteries
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