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Form Energy announces Iron-Air 100-hour storage battery
https://techxplore.com ^ | JULY 26, 2021 | by Bob Yirka

Posted on 07/26/2021 12:42:14 PM PDT by Red Badger

Officials with battery maker Form Energy have announced the development of the Iron-Air 100-hour storage battery—a battery meant to store electricity created from renewable sources such as solar and wind. As part of their announcement, they note that their new battery is based on iron, not lithium, and thus is much less expensive to produce.

The team at Form Energy describe their new battery as a multi-day energy storage system—one that can feed electricity to the grid for approximately 100 hours at a cost that is significantly lower than lithium-ion batteries.

The basic idea behind the iron-air battery is that it takes in oxygen and then uses it to convert iron inside the battery to rust, later converting it back to iron again. Converting back and forth between iron and rust allows the energy that is stored in the battery to be stored longer than conventional batteries.

The batteries are much too big and heavy for use in small applications (or cars)—each battery is approximately the size of a washing machine. Instead, they are meant to be hooked together in massive grids capable of storing enormous amounts of electricity for days at a time. Cells are stacked inside of a water-based, non-flammable electrolyte, which the company claims is similar to that used in standard AA batteries—the cells are made of iron and air electrodes.

When grouped together, thousands of the batteries could be used to store huge amounts of power—they suggest that a grid covering approximately one acre using their low-density batteries could provide power for a one-megawatt system. The high-density version, would be triple that.

On the website, officials with Form Energy suggest that their batteries provide a solution to a growing problem—managing the variability of renewable energy sources. They suggest that other current battery technologies are not cost-effective, noting that they typically cost up to $80 per kw/hour of storage. Their new battery, they claim, costs under $6 per kw/hour in its most basic form, and approximately $20 per kw/hour when outfitted as part of a total system—a price point, they further claim, that many in the field describe as necessary for renewable systems to replace those based on fossil fuels. They also note that some big names have invested in their company, such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, and that they have already forged deals with some utilities, such as Great River Energy in Minnesota.

More information: formenergy.com/form-energy-unv … -battery-technology/


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: battery; energy; formenergy; technology
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1 posted on 07/26/2021 12:42:14 PM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

I am all for it. Anything that can increase large scale energy storage is helpful, and I don’t have to be a stinking greenie virtue signaler to benefit from it.


2 posted on 07/26/2021 12:47:34 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: Red Badger

Just burn coal.


3 posted on 07/26/2021 12:48:18 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” ― Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Red Badger

and if it catches fire, it’ll be epic...


4 posted on 07/26/2021 12:48:36 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. P144:1)
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To: Red Badger

“Converting back and forth between iron and rust allows the energy that is stored in the battery to be stored longer than conventional batteries.”

Who knew, we had junk yards all across the US making electricity all this time.


5 posted on 07/26/2021 12:50:21 PM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: rlmorel

Sure, put one in my garage and when it’s charged by the sun I’ll use it to offset electric costs - IF it’s cost efficient


6 posted on 07/26/2021 12:50:34 PM PDT by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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To: Red Badger

100 hours without wattage context is useless. 1 megawatt without a time context is useless. Do they actually make batteries?


7 posted on 07/26/2021 12:50:41 PM PDT by bak3r
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To: Red Badger

More fanfare about a non existent problem.


8 posted on 07/26/2021 12:50:48 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: Red Badger

AGM batteries already deliver this level of efficiency and cost.


9 posted on 07/26/2021 12:50:58 PM PDT by CodeToad (Arm up! They Have!)
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To: rlmorel

I like it, too. But I want it at a smaller scale so I can buy one or two for my house. Anytime the green energy is done by utilities there’s always a lot of palm greasing and inefficiencies and bureaucratic red tape.


10 posted on 07/26/2021 12:51:46 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: woodbutcher1963

Yep, just toss your junk into the kiddie/dog pool and fill with magic solutions and you get that they got.


11 posted on 07/26/2021 12:51:47 PM PDT by CodeToad (Arm up! They Have!)
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To: Red Badger

what do they use for anode and cathode material?


12 posted on 07/26/2021 12:55:28 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: Red Badger
Go local with Iron Edison
13 posted on 07/26/2021 12:55:56 PM PDT by Noumenon (The Second Amendment exists primarily to deal with those who just won't take no for an answer. KTF)
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To: bak3r

https://formenergy.com/technology/battery-technology/


14 posted on 07/26/2021 12:58:20 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: PGR88

https://formenergy.com/technology/battery-technology/


15 posted on 07/26/2021 12:58:34 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

In my opinion, any “battery” that uses oxygen, from the atmosphere, is NOT a battery.

This thing is going to pollute, if it works at all.


16 posted on 07/26/2021 1:00:31 PM PDT by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: bak3r

You noticed that as well.

They essentially make no claims regarding supplying useful amounts of power in any.


17 posted on 07/26/2021 1:01:24 PM PDT by Jotmo (Whoever said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." has clearly never been stabbed to death.)
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To: Red Badger

“one that can feed electricity to the grid for approximately 100 hours”

That is why one should suspect that this story is fake. Time without power is meaningless nonsense. Notice that your electric bill uses Kilowatt Hours. A 9volt battery could feed energy back to the grid for 100hours if the current was low enough. Of course it would contribute nothing of value.

Those who make false claims are often not even bright enough to use the proper terms.


18 posted on 07/26/2021 1:02:25 PM PDT by Revel
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To: Chode

My thought exactly. There is a substance called thermite, that once ignited, can burn through just about anything.

Red iron oxide -325 mesh three parts by weight
Finely divided aluminum metal -325 mesh, one part by weight

This compound might not generate much electricity, but man, the heat it can put out.

And neither carbon dioxide nor water will put it out before it is all consumed.


19 posted on 07/26/2021 1:03:37 PM PDT by alloysteel ( Cows don't give milk. You have to work for it.)
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To: 1Old Pro; Tell It Right

LOL, yes. For me, that is a set point as well.

I am not in the LEAST interested in getting solar panels on my roof that feed power back into the grid.

If I ever get solar panels, they will be charging my OWN batteries.

And, as Tell It Right accurately points out, there is all the bureaucratic BS associated with the power companies. If they ball it up, when things happen, you will STILL be one of those 102,328 customers currently without power.

I am not at all against them doing it-if they stupidly go down the same road Texas did, they SHOULD have a way to store energy from their stupid “renewables” purchased with government subsidies, but of course...these are subject to the same stupidity.


20 posted on 07/26/2021 1:21:06 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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