Energy Storage
As renewable energy sources (flows) become a larger part of our energy use, we must increasingly think about how to store energy to use it when we need it. Fuels are a way of storing energy in chemical bonds, while batteries are a way to store electrical energy. Mechanical options like pumping water to a higher location is another way of storing energy.
Modules
Although the physics are simple, one of the most efficient ways of storing electricity is to convert it to mechanical or gravitational potential energy.
Since electrical energy is a continuous flow that must be used as soon as it is generated, it cannot be stored in electrical form. Rechargeable batteries are a way to store electrical energy by converting it into chemical potential energy.
Page last updated: September 17, 2022​
Different fuels can be stored in several different forms: solid (coal), liquid (petroleum, ethanol, diesel, liquified gasses), or gas (natural gas, hydrogen).