Why energy storage is important?
We need energy to power all kinds of our human activities. Every revolution of energy technology in history ignites a giant leap forward of our human civilization. The mastery of fire reveals the dawn of human civilization; the invention of combustion engine and usage of fissile fuel set the stage for industrial revolution; the usage of electricity ushers the technological revolution; the invention of Li-ion battery, together with other technologies, enables the digital revolution. Now we are facing revolutions in transportation, electricity generation, automation and health care. These revolutions can not come true without high performance batteries.
How do we measure the performance of an energy storage technology?
Safety, cost, durability, energy density and power capability are the most important metrics to evaluate an energy storage technology.
Having one energy storage technology that excels in every aspect is ideal but extremely challenging. Since different applications have different requirements on performance, it makes more practical sense to have different types of energy storage technologies for different applications. As such, we can focus on optimizing one or two of the above metrics targeting certain applications.
The good combination of high energy and high power makes Li-ion batteries ideal for transportation (such as vehicle) application.
The low cost, scalability and decoupling of energy from power make redox flow battery ideal for large scale grid storage and renewable integration.
The high capacity of metal anodes makes multivalent battery ideal for application requiring high volumetric energy density, such as consumer electronics and robots.