Compressed Air Energy Storage: Types, systems and applications

The intermittency of renewable energy sources is making increased deployment of storage technology necessary. Technologies are needed with high round-trip efficiency and at low cost to allow renewables to undercut fossil fuels. The cost of lithium batteries has fallen, but producing them comes with a substantial carbon footprint, as well as a cost to the local environment.

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) uses excess electricity, particularly from wind farms, to compress air. Re-expansi...