An electrical engineer works on Form Energy’s 2022 battery module in the company’s lab in Berkeley, California. Image courtesy of Form Energy
PBS’s NOVA recently ran a story entitled:
How iron-air batteries could fill gaps in renewable energy
Adding: Rust Belt cities could be the perfect place to develop this renewable energy solution.
The chemical reaction between iron and oxygen, which creates rust, can be used to make electricity in batteries. Not tiny lithium batteries but shipping container size batteries that can provide up to 100 hours worth of electric without using precious metals. String enough of them together and you can supplement solar array farms during cloudy weather. Fittingly the Rust Belt town of Weirton, West Virginia is the perfect place to set up a steel and rust oriented manufacturing plant. It’s a fascinating story worth a look.