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The Senate has weighed in on the “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB). As I predicted, it only marginally changes the IRA’s fate. The final bill will result in more changes, but it won’t matter. The IRA will remain in hospice.
This a teaching moment for the climate movement. The lesson is stop acting as a shill for solar and start focusing on the long-term goal of carbon reduction.
That means greater support for non-intermittent technologies including nuclear, geothermal, and to enable solar - long-duration storage.
It means not force-feeding electric vehicles on society before the necessary elements are in place.
Both strategies have one thing in common.
The cart was put before the horse, or as I wrote yesterday, the strategy is bass akwards.
In both cases the focus was more on garnering headlines than long-term results. Both ignored the importance of the enabling elements. With solar and wind, it was a lack of emphasis on grid infrastructure and eliminating intermittency. Â With EVs, it was a lack of charging infrastructure.
I’ll review the Senate’s version of the BBB maybe tomorrow. I know it’s the focus for many involved with clean technology, but the subject is getting old.
The only good news from the Senate releasing its version is that it should put an end to the incessant stream of articles about how climate forces were going to alter the IRA’s fate. That was never going to happen.
I didn’t say it was good news for climate advocates. It’s mostly good news for me, because I tired of having to review the foolishness.
Today, I want to cover what I consider a truly interesting - and positive - climate-related occurrence.
The world’s largest sand battery is now operational is a small Finland village.
The 50-feet wide and 43-feet high battery can store 100MWh of thermal energy. That’s enough to handle Pornainen’s heat demand for a week in the winter and for a month in the summer.
Image: Copyright Polar Night Energy
It’s expected to reduce the use wood chips by about 60%, while reducing annual carbon equivalent emissions by 160 metric tons.
Granted, the town’s population is a mere 5,000, but the deployment of this sand-based energy storage is notable for two reasons.
First, the new project is 10X larger than the previous pilot that’s been operational since May 2022. That’s the type of advancement in scale you like to see in any new technology.
Second, sand is plentiful, and unlike lithium, acquiring it has a limited environmental impact.
The developers of the storage project – Polar Night Energy – says their technology works with a range of sand types, and hopes to expand worldwide. It is also working to develop ways to convert the thermal energy back to electricity.
It may not garner widespread headlines, but it’s an example of the type of efforts net-zero advocates should be more focused on.
#thermalenergy #sandbattery #energystorage