In news–Researchers in Finland have installed the world’s first fully working sand battery, making a major breakthrough in solving the global energy crisis.
About sand battery-
- Researchers claimed that this development can solve the problem of how to store renewable energy by storing green power for months at a time.
- This could solve the year-round problem of supply, which has proven to be a major issue for green energy.
- The sand batteries use low-grade sand, which is later heated up in the battery employing electricity generated from wind and solar energy, which is generally considered to be cheaper.
- The sand can store this energy in the form of heat at about 500 degrees Celsius.
- This can then be used to warm homes, especially in the winter, when the demand is typically higher and so are the energy prices.
- While ideas like these are still being tested and it’s not known whether these sand batteries can store electricity as well as heat, measures like this one are being backed by the local government as a promising start.
- In Finland, this development is especially crucial and is a light of hope because of the long and cold winters it faces.
- Finland has the longest Russian border in the European Union (EU).
- In the wake of Finland’s decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Moscow has halted gas and electricity supplies.
- About 40 per cent of the European Union’s (EU) gas comes from Russia, and cutting off natural energy export strategy from Russia brews trouble for many
- In such times, finding alternative energy supplies to fill in the gap can be crucial, and Finland’s latest sand batteries can prove to be the right step in the right direction.
Source: Times Now
