Wood-Based Solar Storage: Can Engineered Biomass Really Beat Black Metal Tanks?
Researchers point to advanced chemistry, citing work from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and UCLA, suggesting DNA-damage mimicry for next-generation energy storage solutions.
The community debate centers on the viability of advanced concepts. Powderhorn argues heating is half of global demand, pushing for Molecular Solar Thermal (MOST) storage. SteveKLord suggests redesigning wood at the nanoscale to create an all-in-one light-absorbing, heat-storing, and electric-generating system. However, humanspiral challenges the wood system's physics, citing low energy density (179kj/kg) and demanding that any proposal match the established power-per-day output of cheap alternatives like black metal tanks.
The core conflict is practicality versus promise. While proponents describe sophisticated scientific breakthroughs, critics like humanspiral demand rigorous, quantitative comparison against existing, inexpensive technologies. The general consensus is that while long-duration storage is recognized as a massive engineering hurdle, the proposed advanced methods lack verifiable proof of superior, scalable energy density.
Key Points
Heating requires specialized chemistry beyond standard Li-ion batteries.
Powderhorn stated heating accounts for nearly half of global energy demand, requiring Molecular Solar Thermal (MOST) storage.
Engineered wood can be redesigned for multi-function energy storage.
SteveKLord proposed an all-in-one wood system that absorbs light, stores heat, and generates electricity.
The proposed energy density of wood-based systems is insufficient.
humanspiral calculated the wood system's low energy density (179kj/kg) and low thermoelectric efficiency.
New storage solutions must quantitatively beat cheap existing benchmarks.
humanspiral demanded systems prove their worth against established methods, such as black metal tanks.
Advanced chemistry breakthroughs are mimicking DNA damage for storage.
Powderhorn referenced a breakthrough from UCSB/UCLA adapting chemical approaches by mimicking UV damage to DNA.
Source Discussions (3)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.