It is ironic that the celebration of more than a few hundred years of burning cheap oil and coal will largely end with our generation. And this happens in the same time when the climate crisis gets worse. It sounds like we got a “bonus” for the rapid use of natural resources accumulated over millions of years. Despite the nostalgia, moving on with old customs is not only possible due to the environment, but also due to the accelerating increase in the fuel prices with the accompanying environmental risks.
Fairy tales about carbon sequestration and the role of forests in this have no economic or environmental sense. So there is an urgent need to implement technologies that reduce environmental use.
Until new and more advanced energy technologies are introduced, modern renewable energy technologies are playing a key role in the transition to a climate-neutral economy. Mainly due to their intermittent nature of solar and wind energy, their massive deployment leads to the need of the use of storage technologies and other flexible techniques.
In particular, the introduction of energy storage solutions poses a number of new challenges.
First, the use of energy storage increases the need to generate energy. As any energy generation increases the use of the environment, the energy efficiency of storage units also plays a significant role in maintaining the environmental impact.
Second, the application of any new technologies will also increase the use of natural resources. It is therefore necessary for new technologies to use as few scarce minerals as possible, and preferably mainly natural resources of local origin.
Third, the cost of storage. Today, there is only one storage technology mainly in use – pumped-hydro storage (PHS) – they account for> 96% of the world’s storage capacity. The three main reasons for its’ sovereignty have already been mentioned: relatively high efficiency, low demand for scarce minerals and the lowest cost of storage.
Unfortunately, traditional PHS also has significant drawbacks. First, it can only be built in the mountains, which results in a significant use restriction. Secondly, the flooding of large areas in the mountains has significant negative environmental impacts. And third, the construction of traditional PHSs involves the use of large quantities of concrete with high environmental impact.
Analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of storage solutions and energy technologies in general, it is quite easy to conclude that the best results are obtained by miximising the strengths of different technologies, while reducing the weaknesses.
In short, hybrid energy technologies are needed.
Our solution to this challenge is the Zero Terrain storage technology, solving the following global challenges: low environmental use, usability regardless of the terrain, energy efficiency, very low need for scarce minerals and low storage cost.
The first industrial application of Zero Terrain technology – Energiasalv – is being built in Estonia, where the technology is originated.
The introduction of new energy technologies also needs new types of people. Those who share the ambition of synergies between different economic sectors, a climate-neutral economy and a natural desire to learn and use new solutions.
In connection with the start Energiasalv’s construction, we are teaming up a group of innovative people. We need mining and construction engineers, energy and mechanical engineers, financial people and administrators. Check out our open positions for now:
More information can be found also on our LinkedIn account @Energiasalv.
