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The Sand Battery Is a Way for Countries to Store Renewable Energy Without Using Lithium, Which Will See Its Demand Increase by at Least 40 Times in the Coming Years.
Polar Night Energy, in Finland, gave an interview to the BBC portal showing the development aimed at meeting the energy matrix needs left by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Now, the country will make its energy matrix less dependent on foreign sources by heating sand to over 500 degrees to store energy for months on end. The heating energy, provided by natural sources such as wind and solar energy, is stored in the sand for months and can meet the long-term demands of the population through sand batteries without lithium.
“Using resistive heating, cheap renewable energy is used to heat sand to 500C, and since sand is excellent for storing heat, the battery can retain this energy for months,” says one of the partners of the institution.
Energy Stored for Months Using Low-Quality Sand
The new battery created and developed by Polar Night Energy uses low-quality sand available anywhere for energy storage for months without the industry using lithium, a metal that is currently facing market shortages.
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Lithium is one of the main materials used in the production of batteries, not only for photovoltaic panels, but also for electric cars. Given the low production of this metal and high demand, companies like Tesla have already laid off around 10% of their employees due to rising electric vehicle prices and difficulties in maintaining production levels. Brazilian companies are also halting activities due to low stock and raw materials.
Creating solutions for the development of sand batteries without resorting to lithium is a necessity for many developing countries. It was the question of which other metal or raw material could be used for energy storage and matrix stability that led researchers to discover that sand has strong chemical and physical capabilities to retain heat.
According to the company’s study in Finland, sand could be used to heat homes during winter, when energy is generally more expensive due to higher demand for heaters in countries like the United States.
This technology may soon be used in Brazil to escape the energy crisis: Aneel has already announced an enormous 65% increase in tax flags, and every year, the electricity bill has variations above 30%. Storing energy for months is a way to escape inflation and ensure stability during crisis times, as happened in 2021 in Brazil, after the creation, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy, of the scarcity flag, which would charge higher penalty fees than the red flag level 2.
Finland: Demand for Lithium Will Increase 40 Times and Meeting This Demand by Changing Raw Materials Is Crucial
As reported by the International Energy Agency, the demand for lithium is estimated to increase by at least 40 times in the coming years, mainly due to the higher production of batteries for electric vehicles. Therefore, it is crucial for countries to create strategies to reduce dependence on this metal, which is becoming increasingly scarce in the market.
The new sand battery, which uses coarse grains, weighs 100 tons and can be used to meet the energy demands of a city, not to mention that it exponentially reduces the costs associated with energy.
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