Batteries are everywhere. They're in our phones, our remote controls, smart-watches, electric cars and so much more. They could also be the solution to a problem that renewable energy companies have faced for years: How to store the mass amounts of energy they produce for later use. Some companies are using batteries to make renewable energy accessible 24/7. Today, we dig into how the technology is rapidly progressing with Cooper Katz McKim, a producer from fellow NPR podcast The Indicator from Planet Money. Listen to The Indicator's three-part battery series. Have questions about the future of technology? Contact us at [email protected]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Hey, Shortwavers, Emily Kwong here with Cooper Akatsumakim, a producer at The Indicator from Planet Money, as he is... Wait, what are you doing, Cooper?
Oh, Emily, hi. That's just me turning on and off the lights at a facility in California where there is battery power energizing the grid. Like literally holding energy and then releasing it onto the grid that powers all our homes.
Interesting, but in California, I'd expect energy to be coming from places like natural gas or hydro. You're telling me batteries are in the mix?
Grid-scale battery storage is surprisingly oftentimes the second largest source of energy on a given day in California.
I didn't know that battery storage could be used at that level.
I mean, just a few years ago, it was unimaginable. Grid-scale storage like this, it was basically a dream technology for renewable companies, a what-if scenario.
Right. And those companies historically have been using technologies at the whim of the weather. If the sun doesn't shine, solar energy isn't so great.
If the wind doesn't blow, exactly. And battery storage, it changes that equation.
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