So what do you think about liquid air energy storage? If you liked this video, be sure to check out, "Supercapacitors explained - the future of energy storage?" kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y52EYJmJyc-2hKs.html

I'm in Manchester UK, there's one a few miles from here. Another advantage is that the engineering and construction skills are not too different from the oil and gas industry, so skills can be carried over as we phase those out.

Sorry for nitpicking, Matt, but again: "rare earth metals" ("rare earth elements", actually, by IUPAC) does not simply mean "rare" or "expensive" or "difficult to procure" metals. The term is precisely defined as denoting lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium - certainly not lithium, cobalt nor nickel. None of those are used in batteries, AFAIK, although some _are_ used in permanent magnet motors (and generators), usually neodymium. Perhaps that's the source of seemingly endless misuse of the term.

This was one of my university presentation 9 years ago ☺️

"You can have whatever efficiency you want" Entropy has entered the chat: Ahem!

I knew specialized batteries like this were possible but I've been having this thought in my head about the potential of cryogenic storage and this video helped me realize what I've been daydreaming about. So cool to see companies providing this as a clean air solution.

So what did the $/MWh cost boil down to? How does it compare to current grid scale Lithium Ion battery technology. I love your channel but this just came across as a fluff piece without real analysis and numbers.

I see the energy storage problem the same way I see the computer storage problem. You have to have a layered approach; you would never sell a computer with a CPU and no RAM or hard-drive storage would you? Of course not. Nor should we rely on L-ion batteries for our energy needs. You have to have multiple technologies all working on the same grid with varying levels of capacity and speed (or ramp-up time/discharge rate). I love the idea of liquid air energy storage for all the reason you mentioned: It has a very large capacity, scales well, and can be built just about anywhere. Couple it with a battery bank, a solar/wind farm, and maybe some other technologies and you've got the recipe for a seriously robust grid.

One of the fun things is that your "liquid air" storage system has increased efficiency when you combine it with a conventional thermal plant.

I live in Madison County, Indiana. We currently have a large number of solar farms, with more on the way, and the northern half of the county is covered with wind generators. We’ve been good about jumping on new renewable energy sources and I really hope to see this in my community. The coal generators are dropping like flies, maybe someday we can ditch gas power as well.

Thanks for showing this Matt. We have a plant that is being built in Manchester UK. Let's hope that the adoption of Cryo increases and can be integrated with other storage methods.

Matt, you're only 83 days from 1M subs! I've been watching your videos for the last 3 weeks and based on your growth rate I've noticed, you'll hit 1M subs around August 2022 this year. Great work!

The final cost of the energy could probably be lowered by combining the system with the fractionating technology to strip out some of the more valuable products such as liquid oxygen and liquid argon. Because you would already have the liquefaction facility, one of the costlier parts of an overall separation plant you would be creating profitable side products at perhaps lower cost.

Liquid air energy storage - great idea & great presentation (as usual, thanks). Regarding response time of this tech - why can't you also have a quick air battery system response by pairing lithium ion batteries with "air batteries"? How much lithium ion storage is needed? Answer - The size of the lithium ion battery to pair with an air battery is based on the time it takes for the air battery system to respond (how long for the air valves to open and for the gas turbine to spin up) combine this with the rate of energy you need to pump into the grid to compute the size of the lithium ion battery pack. So, I am guessing that it only would take a minute or so for the air battery to respond, so a relatively small lithium ion battery pack would fill this time gap. Once the air system is spun up, it can provide the main power and recharge the lithium ion pack. This is not a new concept. Electrical engineers have placed capacitors in electrical circuits since the dawn of circuit design to provide near instantaneous short term power to meet the millisecond to millisecond fluctuating power demands of, for example, a speaker amplifier circuit. In short, you can have your cake and eat it too, NBD.

This was a pretty dope video to watch. I hope we can see more of this soon. I started talking to my dad about all the wonderful knowledge I’ve gained from this channel and he was pretty surprised. Thank you so much for the time you put into the videos, I love learning stuff. :P

Thanks for covering this, Matt - great technology and was hoping you'd do so after your previous battery video 👍👍

You do an excellent job of explaining technology to a wide audience--something that becomes more critically important with each new "indistinguishable from magic" technology. Keep up the good work!

It is a very good idea. As indicated in the video, there will be ways to improve the efficiency by adding more complex structures at risk of facility cost.

Hello and thank You very much, Mr. FERRELL for this excellent reportage on your channel!

These systems need to be brought online ASAP. Thanks for the explanation Matt!

I introduced a design for liquid air engine more than 25 years ago when I was a high school student.

You are often confusing power and energy. I hear you say “megawatt” for energy storage. That’s like saying the grocery store is “5 mph” away, when you mean “5 miles” away. I know this is driving many of your viewers crazy and lots of people comment on it. To further beat a dead horse, power is an instantaneous measure of energy flow. A kW can’t do any work; it’s not a unit of energy. Just like 60mph won’t get you anywhere unless you travel at that speed for a millisecond, an hour or a week. Then you’ll have travelled some fraction of a mile. Or multiple (or thousands) of miles. That’s analogous to energy.

Thanks Matt, your videos are always informative and eye opening. I like the concept of using what we know to solve problems rather than being led down an expensive path to re-invent the wheel.

Sounds good, and you are correct in the sense that there is no single solution. We need all different kinds of storage for all the different needs. This sounds like a cheap and simple alternative for all the wasted solar power at some locations. Good stuff.

I'd never heard of this tech before! Loving the channel

Matt great video. I may say to your question of why we are not using that technology, maybe we need more people like you who chares tis information in a way that is easy to understand and so obvious that one must need to say as well -" we need to transition right now". Thank you for great contribution to the whole community.

Thanks Matt, your videos are always great, I love to learn.

Thank you for all the very easy to understand educational information.

I've been aware of liquid air batteries for a while, and I find them an exciting option for a very affordable mass grid storage using of the shelf technology that's available now, I wonder if we could build more storage than we need, the option is here with this system

Great video. You really dialed in and captured my thoughts and sentiments on the merits of liquid air energy storage. The merits of the science, technology, materials, and costs almost speak for themselves. I would definitely like to see some more investigation and follow up on the unanswered questions. Some suggested topics for follow up: It seems like a liquid air storage system should be co-located and symbiotically paired with the intermittent energy source (solar / wind) supplying the liquid air plant with power. I could imagine a fully integrated gigawatt scale solar / liquid air plant that is designed, engineered, marketed, and sold under a common brand as a turn key product supplying power 24/7 365 days a year. The most obvious choice would be the acquisition and merger of a liquid air storage company with a gigawatt scale solar or wind company. However, such a merger might prove hostile to existing business relationships with the electric utility industry which would likely prefer to see liquid air energy storage technology killed in the cradle than as to begin competing with it for baseload market share. It would be great if you could score an interview with a large established solar or wind company to explore their thoughts on pairing their product with liquid air energy storage. Location. Location. Location. Expand the focus beyond the merits of the technology and its associated costs to grid access. A liquid air system dumping megawatts of power into the grid would likely need to be co-located next to an existing power plant with grid connection infrastructure or next to an abandoned power plant with existing grid connection infrastructure. Cases in point, In 2003 "First Solar" co-located a utility scale 480 kW PV solar system adjacent to the coal fired Springerville Generating Station operated by Tucson Electric Power in Springerville, Arizona. Tesla's new Moss Landing megapack battery storage system is being installed at the former natural gas fired Moss Landing Power Plant site. Examine the likely regulatory hurdles and challenges to connect a new independent wildcat 24/7 baseload power source to the grid. The regulatory burdens and financial costs may be insurmountable in the US. The utility and the broader utility lobbying industry would immediately go to the mattresses to tie up and protect any potential threat to existing baseload generating capacity. Possession being nine-tenths of the law, the first and easiest thing would be to deny property access, easements, and permits necessary to connect to the grid. A small grid connected project in a foreign country might be the better pace to start rather than a predictable hostile engagement with the US electric utility industry.

Always learning new things from your videos❤️

Wow, I had no idea this existed! A brilliantly simple idea and using existing industrial tech, win-win, nice one!

You can capture CO2 as well, since in this process we are already freezing the air.

To me this seems like the first grid scale option that will actually be viable. Sure, Li-ion is great, but it's expensive and battery cell production isn't large enough to provide the energy storage solutions that we need.

I am all supportive for this idea. Lithium ion batteries aren’t recyclable after a number of years being used to store the power. So, the only point is weather they keep focusing on this liquid battery air or make lithium ion recyclable thus cheaper energy for air and solar power.

What a practical and Awesome Idea! Thanks for sharing.

Its a cool tech that has been around for a long while but never had a reason energy storage application because of the pervasiveness of the oil and fossil fuels. Now with the awareness of climate change and vast intermittent renewable energy sources this tech can finally come to fruition.

You say pumped Hydro storage is geo specific (since it needs elevation difference). Here is flat Denmark (highest hill is 170 meter high) we're working on sandstorage. Not thermal storage, but water in a big bladder tank, buried under 10s of meters of sand. The water pressure then lifts the sand, thus making it works like the water was pumped up high.

Been watching you for ages and was shocked to see I’m not subscribed. Great content.

Thank you Matt Ferrett - very educative video!

If I recall correctly, according to "Plug Life Television" there are no rare earth materials in a battery (if you check the periodic table)

From my gut feeling, the costs per MWh are probably too expensive, but we will see...

Great video I like the fact that it's things that are right in front of us that we always tend to overlook very cool

Good video! I hope to see this get some more coverage.

Do a video on gravity storage! I wrote a paper on it in university and it’s crazy interesting.

60% to 70% efficiency, aka 30~40% loss, still sounds pretty damning for a utility scale storage process. Most batteries and gravity-based storage methods can reach 90% or above.

Eye opening topic. Well presented. Keep up the good work.

Very interestingly and well explained. As always...

This could condense water from the air as a byproduct even in the desert

This has been my counter argument to people who like to argue that the production of lithium batteries negates the environmental benefit of going all electric. The technology has issues but we still need to advance beyond fossil fuels and innovations like this were bound to happen eventually.

Pairing this tech with Batteries would be great. Batteries kick on first to supply instant power, and then switch over to liquid air when available. Really like the way you explain new tech. Keep it up.

Very much enjoyed Matt. More details and numbers would be appreciated :)

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "this could change everything" regarding battery technology.

This is such a brilliant idea, the first time I heard it on “now you know “ I’ve been trying to spread the word about it, this technology combined with Tesla battery Can be super affective balancing the electrical grid,, if this company developers /Build their technology in California they can run it themselves and get regular people to invest in it, this is a better way forward instead of trying to sell it to somebody else and that person gets the profit from it, this is the question of financial engineering/innovation not Technology,

Another great one Matt!! please make a video on its technical aspects, lil more elaborate.

Interesting, when I heard of this, I immediatly thought of the 'Air Car' that kind of flopped, they were using super compressed air to run an air motor to power a small car - the engine kept freezing! I had a bit of a think and realised this process is so inefficient, and you confirmed it, 25% wow. However it's better than nothing in this field.

We need to start building these now, assuming there is a standard model for "mass production" of the equipment, etc. Having a wise and thoughtful government would be a help!

Efficiency is only an factor once we have enough storage to stop "throwing away" the power we are already able to generate. In the UK we need to build these big and build them fast, the renewables are growing quickly. We also had a problem where our gas tubine power stations had to "derate" for a few days, as the air temperature was so warm, the efficiency of their cooling was lowered, so we were burning coal!! If one of these stations was nearby, the gas company could have used their excess heat to warm the liquid air, which would have improved the efficiency of both systems!

I like it. We must use this kind of set up.

Fantastic subject matter in this video. I hope we see more combinations of energy storage technologies. Each technology seems to solve one piece of the puzzle of our energy problems. Let’s get them to work together.

I am from Iowa, they have lots of windmills there but I sware, every time I visit my home state 80% of the windmills are sitting idle

So could this work as a baseload "power plant"? Like an intermediate between renewables and the grid?

Great explanation and interview.

Great piece, thanks!

Sometimes the best solution to a problem is the simplest.

if this system cleans the air before freezing it, does it remove carbon from the air?

I remember doing a seminar in using Compressed Air Storage Systems in remote islands in Canada. Good to see this coming up again. Seems like a coincidence.

all good interesting and affordable, good stuff thanks for the information

The thumbnail shows a battery with air in it, tile says some thing similar , but Matt with smug laugh: you are not gonna have liquid air battery. (9:25) Me : why the _ did i click this

That's really cool! (pun intended) LOL

Hi Matt, air liquefaction is a brilliant storage system; as you mention, no major infrastructure or water diversion (which is very important as we are facing water shortages in many parts of the world), and the 'off-the-shelf' componentry makes for a simple entree into storage. An additional income stream for the storage plant would be to decant the oxygen, helium etc. and sell this gases separately and use only the remaining nitrogen to drive the turbines... Another excellent video Matt.

Thanks Matt. Looks like a great idea.

Only me who read: Lucid Air Energy? I had a heart attack

This idea could work if the compressor is operated directly by the wind turbine. Avoiding two energy conversions.

This is a world class video. As an chemist/engineer I think it will appeal to tech and non-tech folks alike. One thing that has enormous appeal is the system safety. In a worst case scenario the primary release is air. Keep those high quality videos coming.

Max explains things best (thank you)

“When you see a wind turbine not turning that’s why” or.. ya know... the wind isn’t blowing 😂

Thereare no rare earth metals in lithium ion batteries

sounds like another great solution. very interesting development.

I've travelled the energy exhibitions in Japan for a long time. They did something I thought was equally ingenious. They let all they power plants run on 75% capability all the time. They then use their mountains to pump water onto, storing potential energy, at night when the consumption is low.. When they need the extra energy during the day, they let the water run back down through hydro turbines.

50 mgs really when the governor of California calls for a total swing to electric by 2030 ummmmm not happening

If it speeds up the transition to green energy, I'll take it.

Storing energy for home use. There is a guy in New Jersey who put together a solar system that when there was access power produced, it made hydrogen. Yes, hydrogen. It was stored in a low pressure tank (propane tank) and oxygen from the process was stored in another tank. When the house needs electricity the hydrogen produces it for him. It's in his backyard. It took a while from what I understand to get township approval but it works

Fantastic vid, thanks

%60 efficiency of wind and solar that are %30 efficient. Requiring 1.4 times as many solar panels and wind mills. Or we could make a few nuclear plants and call it a day.

meh, too expensive

A very clever application of well known principles...... seems like a good solution... no pollution, no emissions..... and reasonable efficiency.....

Matt, you should do a follow-up video in this topic if the facilitys are in operation already! I'm very curious!! Thank you

The title is pure clickbait. "Liquid Air Battery Explained - The End of Lithium Ion Batteries?" There's no danger whatsoever of liquid air ending the dominance of lithium ion batteries. In fact, it's misleading to even call liquid air energy storage a battery; it most certainly is not. Thumbs down for the trash title. Any efficiency is predicated on being able to make use of the waste heat and cooling. That makes it a much less portable solution than you've implied. It's got to be colocated with uses for that heat and cooling capacity. By the way, it's also got to compete with its sister technology, compressed-air energy storage (CAES). I've no idea which would win out on any given project, but my guess would be CAES since it's generating less unwanted heat and cooling. Also it can take advantage of existing cavities such as spent salt mines for air storage.

Nope. They're wasting their time and money on this.

finally! i've known about this for years, but the conversation usually falls on deaf ears. glad to hear it's finally getting some traction.

this also makes me think of the systems using hydro to passively make pressured air by trapping air bubbles. possibly combination of the two can make this more efficient

Or we just built nuke plants and avoid this sillyness.

Proud of Scotland, for a wee country we always try to stay at the fore front of innovation

Sharing! Great Stuff

Matt, you are a valuable cultural asset. Thank You.

Great video. Very interesting

thanks for Helping the Energy conservation World.

Amazing Channel! Congrats! Thanks

This is excellent, and perfect use case for public utility energy storage development on a regional, maybe even at a large substation level. Also good for energy generation cooperatives. I think this is the missing piece.