New research: US companies lead charge to unleash the potential of the battery for grid energy storage

Hurricane Sandy's recent demonstration of the reliance on steady and reliable power production to run almost every aspect of our lives has brought into sharp focus the urgent need to find back-up solutions.

Step forward the humble battery which, in new and fascinating guises, is beginning to find its place as the backroom back-up that will keep our power flowing.

The current edition of Energy Quarterly, published as a special section of MRS Bulletin, takes a long hard look at the battery, detailing both its potentials and its problems, in particular for energy storage in the electrical grid.

With more than 99 per cent of energy storage on the US national grid requiring huge sites where water can be pumped into elevated reservoirs and then flowed through electricity-generating turbines, batteries – portable, modular and easy to install – are increasingly attractive for grid storage.

EQ is dedicated to the challenges facing materials scientists in the quest for sustainable solutions to the world's energy problems and is aimed at both experienced researchers and the general reader.

EQ is available free to all online at the MRS Bulletin website. Read the full article on battery power at: www.mrs.org/energy-quarterly