Esc energy storage future mining

What is the future of energy storage?

“The Future of Energy Storage,” a new multidisciplinary report from the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), urges government investment in sophisticated analytical tools for planning, operation, and regulation of electricity systems in order to deploy and use storage efficiently.

Should energy storage be a key issue in mining?

The second place that energy storage emerged as a key issue was less expected: in their vision of “smart” and “sustainable” mines, mining companies see advanced energy storage as a key component of the so-called “future of mining” and their vision of the “mine of the future”.

Can energy storage be a source of untapped financial value for mining companies?

In the first two modalities of decarbonisation, energy storage becomes a source of untapped financial value for mining companies. As demand for renewable energy generation and storage grows, the demand for products that only mining companies can produce also grows, from lithium and cobalt and manganese to copper and aluminium.

Why is energy storage a challenge in the mining industry?

The challenge, however, is that the mining industry requires an immense amount of energy storage capacity and for much longer time periods than much of the current battery technology can provide. “We are hoping that as the technology grows, [the storage capacity and duration] will increase.”

Should mining companies invest in energy storage?

If the goal of for-profit companies is to extract as much profit as possible, then energy storage emerges as a convenient reserve of both economic and moral value that mining companies (and perhaps mining companies alone) are well-positioned to exploit.

Is energy storage a form of accumulation in mining decarbonisation?

Consequently, energy storage in mining decarbonisation is not only a form of accumulation, but a condition of possibility for sustaining and generating new forms of capitalist extraction. “Together, we are mining more sustainably.”