Liquid air may be part of the answer to our energy storage problems. If plans in Scotland come to fruition we could see £1.5 billion pounds being pumped into an energy storage scheme which will use liquid air batteries along with other storage technologies to combat our growing energy requirements.
Energy created by wind farms which can normally go to waste if it is created at the wrong time or in abundance can convert air to liquid air which can then be warmed to drive turbines when energy is required.
The solution is simple and cheap to run and on the surface seems to respond adequately to the intermittent energy problem plagued by the renewables sector.
Excess wind energy is used to remove CO2 and water vapor from the air. The remaining air which comprises mostly of N2 is cooled to -190 °C at which point it is liquid. This cooled liquid is then stored in specially designed vacuum flasks until there is a need for the energy. When there is the demand the liquid air is simply warmed. As it warms the expanding gas drives a turbine to produce the required energy, it is a simple carbon neutral solution, which could have potential to be scaled down for family homes as well as industrial scale for national grid.
If the proposed plans go through in Scotland to extract N2 from the air, the new industry could create up to 5000 jobs and renewed interest in exploring new and innovative forms of energy storage.