Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ...
by theptip on Sunday September 10, 2023 @02:39PM
(#37458670)
This is particularly interesting to me because we currently have some unanswered questions about how viable renewable energy is for ~100% of generation.
As we get to higher total renewable contribution, presumably we’d see a more dramatic price difference in energy at different time of day.
This tech suggests to me that, as you say, there is low-hanging fruit that could be harvested, and which perhaps isn’t cost-effective yet with a small diurnal energy cost-delta, but with a higher peak-to-trough cost difference might become viable to extract.
It’s worth noting here that seasonal variations seem harder to deal with, and varying the energy intensity of industrial processes doesn’t seem helpful for that issue due to capex/utilization concerns.
And for diurnal fluctuations, batteries are actually not too expensive these days.
As we get to higher total renewable contribution, presumably we’d see a more dramatic price difference in energy at different time of day.
This tech suggests to me that, as you say, there is low-hanging fruit that could be harvested, and which perhaps isn’t cost-effective yet with a small diurnal energy cost-delta, but with a higher peak-to-trough cost difference might become viable to extract.
It’s worth noting here that seasonal variations seem harder to deal with, and varying the energy intensity of industrial processes doesn’t seem helpful for that issue due to capex/utilization concerns.
And for diurnal fluctuations, batteries are actually not too expensive these days.