199-DYK: What Makes Technology Click
Did you know rare earth elements are a group of 17 elements used in various products such as alloys, batteries, and catalysts? No readily available substitutes exist for most rare earth elements. Unless action is taken, the U.S. could face an annual shortfall of up to...
022-DYK: Landfills What A Waste
Did you know in 2015, 52.5% of MSW generated in the U.S. was disposed of in 1,738 landfills? Imagine what it's like today!!! The 2017 combined capacity of the two largest landfill corporations in the U.S. was more than 10 billion cubic yards. That is over 3 million...
021-DYK: Garbage Can Cost You
Did you know the generation of MSW from private consumption in the U.S. is approximately $21.32 per pound or 47 lbs per thousand dollars? Comparable generation rates (in lbs/thousand dollars) are 40 in the UK, 50 in Sweden, and 61 in Germany.
020-DYK: Waste As Far As You Can See
Did you know total annual Municipal Solid Waste generation in the U.S. has increased by 73% since 1980, to the current level of about 262 million tons per year? Can you imagine what it is now!? Further, generation increased by 22% over the same time period, from 3.7...
019-DYK: Pumped Hydroelctric Storage
Did you know pumped hydroelectric storage systems generate electricity by pumping water from a low to a high reservoir, releasing the water from the higher reservoir through a hydroelectric turbine only when electricity is needed? 94% of U.S. energy storage is from...
018-DYK: Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)
DYK-Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) CAES captures and stores compressed air in an underground cavern. To create electricity, the pressurized air is heated and expanded in an expansion turbine, driving a generator. As of June 2018, there are 4 operating CAES...
017-DYK: Advanced Battery Energy Storage (ABES)
Did you know that ABES stores electrical energy in the form of chemical energy, which is then converted back into electricity when needed? Batteries contain two electrodes (anode and cathode), two terminals composed of different chemicals, and the electrolyte that...
016-DYK: Flywheel Energy Storage (FES)
Did you know that in 2018, flywheels accounted for 0.058 GW of rated power in the U.S. and have efficiencies between 85-87%. FES systems store electric energy via kinetic energy by spinning a rotor in a frictionless enclosure?.. The rotor is sped up or down to shift...
015-DYK: How Do you Store Large Scale Energy?
Did you know that PHS and CAES are large-scale technologies capable of discharge times of tens of hours but are geographically limited. Several EES technologies are in research phases, but five storage technology types are considered deployed: Pumped Hydroelectric...
014-DYK: Delivered Power Impact on Energy Storage?
Did you know 2.5% of delivered electric power in the U.S. is cycled through a storage facility. For comparison, 10% of delivered power in Europe and 15% of delivered power in Japan are cycled through energy storage facilities.