References
In June 2016, Navigant Research issued a worldwide industry report entitled Next-Generation Advanced Batteries. In this report, research analysts determined the most promising technologies and companies on the horizon. WattJoule was listed as one of those companies. You can get more information about this report and an executive summary here: Navigant Research WattJoule.
The conventional wisdom is that lithium ion batteries are a panacea for all energy storage problems. Well, before you think the GigaFactory is a slam-dunk deal, there is a knowledgeable and respected contrarian viewpoint that you may want to read: Here’s Why Lithium-Ion Batteries Probably Aren’t the Future of Stationary Energy Storage.
Here is an excellent IEEE Spectrum article written by our colleague Dr. Gary Yang about the benefits of vanadium redox flow batteries. WattJoule is one of only 3 companies globally, along with UET, that has licensed a breakthrough electrolyte chemistry invented at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Labs. Read: “It’s Big and Long-Lived, and It Won’t Catch Fire: The Vanadium Redox-Flow Battery”
Want to read an interesting article about the unstoppable clean energy juggernaut? In the beginning, clean energy needed government policy to get things going, but now free market forces have taken over. The interesting result is that a lot of fossil fuels in the ground will now probably stay in the ground, regardless what the US government does going forward. Read: Economics, Not Politics, Will Strand Fossil Fuels.
The solar energy market is on fire these days with phenomenal growth. Over 90 percent of new electricity generation being built is renewable, and a large percentage of this is solar. Utility scale solar is now beating all other forms of fossil fuel generation in terms of new installed capacity. Here is an article with some basic facts to support these claims: 10 Solar Energy Facts & Charts You (& Everyone) Should Know.
For a quick overview of the state of the renewable energy industry and its rapid growth in the last few years, read: A Record Year for Renewable Energy.
Ok, if you are really into all this energy storage stuff, and want to take even a deeper industry dive, with lots of in-depth reference info, facts and figures, see the web site of the Energy Storage Association.
The decline of fossil fuel-generated electricity is literally happening before our eyes, and a tipping point will soon be reached. Coal power plants especially are being shut down and new ones cancelled as it becomes apparent that coal-based energy is a really bad long-term investment today. Here are four insightful articles about the growing decline of coal-produced electricity, and why it is an increasingly bad investment versus alternative energy.
- Morning Consult — “Coal Plants Are Shutting Down, With or Without Clean Power Plan” — by Jack Fitzpatrick
- The Motley Fool — “Coal Is Dead: It’s Time to Accept It” — by Travis Hoium
- Bloomberg View — “Why You Should Short Coal” — by Carl Pope
- Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis — “Ample Evidence in at Least 12 States That Coal Companies Are in No Position to Meet Their Cleanup Commitments” — by Tom Sanzillo
Here are two articles on how coal-based electricity actually peaked in China in 2014, a fact that is not well known. This happened because people were literally choking on the polluted air and the government had to act by mandate in order to fix it. So a big renewables push in China is underway, causing in turn a growing need for storage, hence the strong Chinese storage market interest we are currently seeing.
- The Guardian — “China’s coal peak hailed as turning point in climate change battle” — by Damian Carrington
- The New York Times — “China Aims to Spend at Least $360 Billion on Renewable Energy by 2020” — by Michael Forsythe