The Necessity of Storage Technology

In a renewable energy future energy storage is an additional necessary means to match the supply and demand of energy.

- Week 1: Future energy generation systems, the combination of sources on a large scale.

Group work 1: program in Matlab a numerical model for energy generation, with flexible input of PV, solar heat, wind, hydro, biofuel

- Week 2: Future energy use possibilities: look into current typical use patterns of the different sectors, and look into possible changes: electrification, different sources, etc.

Group work 2: program in Matlab typical use patterns for the different sectors

- Week 3: Estimate the possibilities for 'demand response' in the different sectors and program this in Matlab. Deduce the resulting demand for short term and long term storage. Determine the demand for transport of energy and estimate possible transport losses.

Group work 3: program in Matlab the different magnitudes for demand response, short and long storage throughout the year.

- Week 4: Storage methods introduction, pumped hydro, mechanical, compressed air, deployment possibilities.

Group work 4: calculate different factors for energy density, capacity, timescale of storage. Investigate approximate efficiency.

- Week 5: Thermal storage, high T and low T. Combined heat and power possibilities.

Group work 5: Investigate energy densities, efficiencies, capacities, exergies.

- Week 6: Biomass and biofuels, future prospects for storage. Introduction to scalable chemical energy storage methods: batteries and fuels. What would electrification of the chemical industry mean.

Group work: investigate biofuel resources, calculate efficiencies and compare to solar PV and electrolysis numbers.

- Week 7: Hand in report and model. Group presentations of the model calculations (where each group has different boundary conditions). Discuss how the boundary conditions influence the outcome of the storage demand.