This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features Lin Ma, who is at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research group tackles energy and environmental challenges using sustainable materials and electrochemical techniques.
In this episode I chat with Ma about the growing importance of energy storage in electricity grids. Much of this is driven by the growth of wind and solar generation, which can both be intermittent in nature.
Ma talks about the batteries that are currently used in grids and explains what improvements are needed as more renewable energy comes on line. We chat about the different battery technologies that can be used for grid storage and Lin explains why sodium-ion batteries offer advantages over lithium-based devices when it comes to large-scale deployment. Lin also talks about some of the safety issues surrounding large battery facilities and how artificial intelligence can be used to improve many aspects of battery technology.
This podcast is presented in partnership with the Electrochemical Society. The mission of the ECS is to advance theory and practice at the forefront of electrochemical and solid state science and technology, and allied subjects.
