En las \u00faltimas d\u00e9cadas, el costo de generaci\u00f3n de energ\u00eda E\u00f3lica y Solar ha bajado dram\u00e1ticamente. El Departamento de Energ\u00eda de EUA considera que las fuentes de energ\u00eda renovable ser\u00e1n las que tendr\u00e1n un mayor crecimiento de ahora hasta el 2050. Sin embargo, a\u00fan resulta muy costoso el almacenamiento de ese insumo vital y por ello, el gobierno federal y la industria privada de ese pa\u00eds, se encuentran abocados al desarrollo de m\u00e1s eficientes sistemas de almacenamiento.<\/p>\n
In recent decades the cost of\u00a0wind<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0solar<\/a>\u00a0power generation has dropped dramatically. This is one reason that the U.S. Department of Energy projects that renewable energy will be the\u00a0fastest-growing U.S. energy source through 2050<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s still relatively expensive to store energy. And since renewable energy generation\u00a0isn\u2019t available all the time<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 it happens when the wind blows or the sun shines \u2013 storage is essential.<\/p>\n As a\u00a0researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory<\/a>, I work with the federal government and private industry to develop renewable energy storage technologies. In a recent\u00a0report<\/a>, researchers at NREL estimated that the potential exists to increase U.S. renewable energy storage capacity by\u00a0as much as 3,000% percent by 2050<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here are three emerging technologies that could help make this happen.<\/p>\n Longer charges<\/strong><\/p>\n From alkaline batteries for small electronics to lithium-ion batteries for cars and laptops, most people already use batteries in many aspects of their daily lives. But there is still lots of room for growth.<\/p>\n For example, high-capacity batteries with long discharge times \u2013 up to 10 hours \u2013 could be valuable for storing solar power at night or increasing the range of electric vehicles. Right now there are very few such batteries in use. However, according to\u00a0recent projections<\/a>, upwards of 100 gigawatts\u2019 worth of these batteries will likely be installed by 2050. For comparison, that\u2019s\u00a050 times the generating capacity of Hoover Dam<\/a>. This could have a major impact on the viability of renewable energy.<\/p>\n