Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at a time for later use. This reduces the imbalance between energy consumption and energy production. A device that usually stores energy is called a battery or an accumulator.
What is the need for energy storage?
In our daily lives, we use electricity for almost all major and minor tasks. Even to read this article, you are using some device that is powered by energy; we consume energy 24/7 and we need a constant and reliable supply of this energy.
We have also been depending on non-renewable sources of energy like coal, oil, and gas and this has caused serious depreciation in these fossil fuels. We need to make more use of renewable energy resources like wind and solar energy. It is a good way of energy production but it’s not very reliable as it can be cloudy someday or the wind may be fast or slow, we can never get a steady flow of energy by using these resources.
This is where the concept of energy storage comes into play. We can store the energy generated by wind and solar power in safe and powerful batteries. This will
provide us with a reliable energy source and will be available 24/7 without depleting our nature of its resources.
Benefits of energy storage
Energy storage is an enabling concept that can save money, reduce environment depreciation, and improve reliability.
Save Money
Energy storage can save money for operational costs for powering the grid and for consumers who install energy storage systems in their businesses and homes. By using this technique, costly disruptions can be avoided by the companies and normal operations can be resumed. The inconvenience of not having electricity will be saved in households.
Reduce environment depreciation
Energy storage can help reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Wind and solar energy can be utilized in place of our natural resources. This can also help to avoid the need for building new power plants with peak pollution emissions. With the use of renewable power sources, we will have a constant supply of power for energy production without exploiting the fossils and this will also help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc.
Improve Reliability
Energy storage will provide us with a reassurance of having a power backup in case of an emergency. This will also ensure to provide the businesses and large companies with an uninterrupted power source.
Conclusion
Energy storage is a necessity in today’s time and we need to improve our energy storage systems to overcome power outages, depletion of non-renewable resources, reduce pollution, and improve energy reliability.