Alot of people don’t generally think about energy storage. They think about the cost of their energy and sometimes they worry if is sustainable or good or bad for our planet.  But between the energy plant and our turning the light switch on alot happens.   The fuel gets mined or created.  It gets transported to a plant.  And the plant creates the energy (electricity or other types) that is used by us everyday.  And the creation of the energy is like a widget factory chunking out one widget after another.   But demand is not.  It is up and down with daily, weekly and seasonal peaks.  Widgets can be stored someplace to be shipped out to meet demand patterns.  But can energy?    The answer is yes it can.  and that is what companies like SustainX are doing.  Creating sustainable ways to store energy but with independence.

Research is being done in this space of course, with pumped hydro and compressed air energy storage leading, with salt and other methods being investigated as well (see this “Energy Storage Wars: Which Technology Will Win the Battle?” for more).  Dr. Suresh Garimella and others published a paper just this year on using salt for  topic titled, “Cyclic Operation of Molten-Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Thermoclines for Solar Power Plants“.   But SustainX is doing it with isothermal compressed air energy storage (ICAES™) system.  On the surface of this, it doesn’t seem that remarkable.  Compressed air storage is a leading method already.  Energy creators happen to like it actually since compressed air energy can last 50 – 80 years, is well understood, and is manageable.  The only problem is that it has to be inside a large part of the earth.  That’s not a bad thing per se but having large caverns for this can pose a site and energy transport problem.   But SustainX removes that barrier and allows for compressed air storage in virtually any medium that can handle pressurized storage.   How does it work?  Here’s a snippet from SustainX’s description

SustainX’s isothermal compressed air energy storage (ICAES™) technology enables a site-anywhere, zero-emissions storage solution. Through superior thermodynamics, SustainX technology frees compressed air storage from the risks of caverns and the emissions of natural gas.

Isothermal compression allows air to reach high pressures without the inherent challenges of high temperatures or high thermal losses. Compressed air at near ambient temperature can be stored until needed with minimal energy losses. When power is needed, isothermal expansion can deliver electrical energy with no requirement for natural gas combustion

You can read more about SustainX and their approach to geographic independent energy storage at their web site: SustainX.