World's first CO2-based energy storage solution will be available in the US soon

Energy Dome, the Italian company that uses carbon dioxide for long-duration energy storage, has now entered the U.S. energy market, Electrek reported. The move will open up new avenues for the storage of electricity derived from renewable sources such as solar and wind energy.

Countries around the world are looking to switch to sources of renewable energy in a bid to reduce their carbon emissions. Recently, the world's largest floating offshore wind farm went online in Norway and will use the harnessed energy to reduce emissions from its oil and gas production facilities.

While there is a growing demand for renewable energy, there is also the problem of intermittency of production. Energy generated using wind power varies throughout the day, while solar power production halts at night. To tide over these issues, countries are currently investing in conventional battery storage solutions that use rare earth minerals, which are not only expensive but also harm the environment.

The carbon dioxide battery

Italy-based Energy Dome offers a simple solution to this challenge by using carbon dioxide as a means to store the energy generated by renewable sources. As Interesting Engineering has previously reported, the carbon dioxide-based battery works by compressing the gas at normal temperature and pressure to convert it into its liquid form. The heat generated during this process is then stored and is the charging phase of the battery.

When power needs to be supplied, the battery is discharged by using the stored heat to turn the liquified carbon dioxide into a gas, which is then sent through a turbine that generates electricity.

The entire process is a closed-loop system where the carbon dioxide is not released into the atmosphere. Earlier this year, Energy Dome set up a scaled-pilot demonstrator on the island of Sardinia in Italy.

Entry into the U.S.

Since then, Energy Dome has been looking to expand its footprint, and according to a press release, it teamed up with Danish power company Orsted to explore long-duration energy storage solutions at various sites.

In the U.S., Energy Dome is tapping into the networking support offered by Bay area-based Elemental Excelator, a non-profit organization that advocates and invests in climate change technology deployment.

Speaking to Electrek, an Energy Dome spokesperson said that the company looked at the U.S. as its primary market and is confident that measures like the Inflation Reduction Act will drive the growth of long-duration energy storage systems in the short term.

Since Energy Dome uses off-the-shelf components to build its large carbon dioxide battery, the deployment of the technology is relatively easy and fast, with the company expecting its first commercial facility to begin operations as early as 2024.

On its part, Elemental is of the view that Energy Dome offers a great solution for energy storage which had been missing from the decarbonization puzzle, Electrek reported.