Danielle Fong: how to store the world’s excess energy
July 3, 2012 | Source: Wired Enterprise
Fong in a quieter moment at LightSail’s offices (credit: LightSail)
A company called LightSail Energy aims to store the world’s excess energy in giant tanks of compressed air.
The goal is to plug these tanks into wind and solar farms, so that they can squirrel away energy for times when it’s most needed, much like reservoirs store rain water.
The wind and the sun are prime sources of renewable energy, but they generate power unpredictably. LightSail’s compressed air tanks, says Danielle Fong, chief scientist and co-founder,will make the power grid that much more efficient — and ultimately make the world a greener place.
Backed by $15 million in funding from green-minded venture capital outfit Khosla Partners and with a team of 32 employees, LightSail is pushing ahead with its plan to reinvent the power grid. Fong believes the potential market for compressed air tanks will exceed $1 trillion over the next 20 years.
LightSail’s prototype sprays a dense mist into the compressed air tanks, and this absorbs the heat produced during compression. Water can store heat far more efficiently than air, and with this mist, Fong says, the prototype more easily stores and releases power. According to Fong, her system doubles the efficiency of compressed air, from about 35 percent to roughly 70 percent.
Fong envisions a power grid that behaves more like the Internet, where resources are evenly distributed across the world and they can be readily accessed whenever they’re needed. Fong hopes to provide a level of efficiency the world has never seen, especially in large countries like India and China, where power grids are less developed.
She says that some of the company’s initial targets include Third World countries, isolated towns and islands that operate without power grids and depend on diesel generators and other local power sources. Much of the wattage generated by these sources is wasted, she says, and her compressed air tanks can turn things around. But she’s eying the United States as well.
Comments (7)
by Chrispium
Compressed air vehicles wont work well in cold areas or when it’s winter.
by Jonathan Cole
Compressed air is my favorite energy storage technology. Added bonus when used in cars in hot areas, you get direct A/C from the expanding gas. Puttering around town in a plastic car filled with cool air, idealic. Their water injection scheme seems to cancel some of the cooling effect during pressure release, but seems like it would be adjustable.
by David U
Spray Painted Batteries – “The main drawback of the ingenious spray-paint system is that lithium-ion batteries need oxygen-free, dry conditions to be created since they are made using toxic, flammable and corrosive materials”
They are a ways away from being ready for prime time.
by David U
Artificial leaf – “The device offers few savings over other ways to make hydrogen from sunlight, the company says.” Air does not require energy to extract, because it is all around us. It does not need to be transported to the site of the wind farm. The marketplace is the way to go. Energy needs to be decentralized to reduce waste and increase choice. Power lines waste 15-40 percent of their power during transmission, because of the long distances.
by Bri
I read that too. In the early press releases, he said the catylist was inexpensive to produce, and self healing. He himself, said in another interview, that it was eighty percent efficient at conversion, and that a playing card sized piece, could power a third world house. I don’t know what collection devices they use, but the water isn’t adding to the cost. Once the device is paid for, which in another lecture, he said was only hundreds of dollars, you’d think the hydrogen fuel would be relatively free. Reminds me of the Papps noble gas engine. At a Caltech demonstration he was giving, Richard Feyman unplugged the control console. Papas yelled at Feyman, and acused him of sabotage. Moments later the engine blew up, killing some one. Papps sued Caltech and they settled out of court. The police investigation could find no trace of fraud, or reason for the explosion. The engine was never developed. Papps was strange. Who knows what was going on, but it’s forgotten now. All those bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen coming off that tiny square of catalyst, sure looks like it could perform work. If it covered the roof of my shop, I could easily blow up the place. Let’s face it, if I had that accross my shop all year long, it would generate a huge amount of hydrogen for free, once the panels would be paid for. The price of regular solar panels keep reducing, why not potentially his panels? I’d like to have some of his catalyst to play with. How much could it cost for that playing card sized piece? Even if all I use the gas for, was to cook a hamburger!
by Gorden Russell
Right Bri. Daniel Nocera’s artificial leaf is the way to go. Combine that with those batteries that can be spray painted on, and the Maasai could have power on the savanah.
by Bri
Less explosive than hydrogen, but I still think Daneil Nocera’s artificial leaf is more promising. Hydrogen fuel cell tech just has to improve.