Aluminium
Researchers from the Swiss Institute of solar technologies has assembled a team of scientists from seven European countries and has received funding from the Fund "Horizon Europe" for the development of a promising project aluminum energy storage. The project was called "Reveal", it addresses the key issues of green energy – how and where to stock up for the winter all that energy that will produce wind turbines and solar panels in the summer? The attention of scientists are focused on redox processes in metals.
According to calculations, pure aluminum has a specific energy of 8.7 kWh per 1 kg and 1 cubic meter of aluminium can save up to 23.5 MW⋅h Is 33 times more than the best batteries of Tesla, and 50 times more than commercial lithium-ion batteries. If you divide the aluminium on the balls of 1 mm diameter for ease of use, all ten buckets of such material in the basement of a typical household will be able to provide it with the energy of 1-1. 5 years. Initially, the aluminum need to charge, what is aluminium hydroxide by electrolysis is converted into pure aluminium. Efficiency 65%, it requires a temperature of 800 ℃, special inert electrodes and industrial equipment, therefore, the procedure will be conducted in special stations. But the reverse process of energy release can be arranged in the same basement of the house, the necessary reaction of aluminum with water occurs at a temperature of not more than 100 ℃. The output is aluminum hydroxide, hydrogen for fuel cells and some heat for space heating. There are also techniques of work with aluminum oxide, which require higher temperatures, plus scientist tasked to investigate other methods of oxidation and reduction of aluminium. The main thing is that after the discharge, aluminum battery again ready to work, therefore, one and the same metal ball can be used almost indefinitely. Pure aluminum can be stored even in the open air, it is safe, and a layer of oxide film on the surface is less than 1 nanometer, so the energy loss will be less than 1 %. The project "Reveal" is a technically complex and before 2026, the results from it is not worth waiting. But if he will be successful, given the huge reserves of aluminium, mankind can get a perfect energy storage.