· 2 min read
illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Economist or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: Grid-scale batteries are becoming a crucial part of the clean energy revolution, providing solutions to the intermittency of solar and wind power
• The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that battery storage capacity needs to increase significantly from current levels to achieve global net-zero targets.
🔭 The context: Solar and wind energy are unreliable due to their dependence on weather conditions, making energy storage essential for a stable electricity supply
• Grid-scale batteries can store excess energy and release it when production is low, but current installed capacity is under 200 gigawatts, far from the terawatt levels required by the end of the decade
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Scaling up grid-scale battery storage is critical for decarbonizing electricity supply and meeting global climate goals
• Enhanced storage capabilities will enable more reliable integration of renewable energy sources, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering carbon emissions
⏭️ What's next: The energy storage market is expected to grow rapidly, with investments and technological advancements paving the way for increased capacity
• Achieving the IEA’s target of nearly 5 terawatts of battery storage by 2050 is essential to keeping the world on track for net-zero emissions
💬 One quote: “The business of storing energy on the grid is at last being turbocharged,” highlighting the accelerating growth in grid-scale battery storage
📈 One stat: Global battery storage capacity needs to increase from less than 200 gigawatts currently to more than 1 terawatt by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency
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