CO2 batteries that store grid energy take off globally

Posted by rbanffy 12/21/2025

CO2 batteries that store grid energy take off globally(spectrum.ieee.org)

370 points | 311 commentspage 4

fulafel 12/22/2025||

There's remarkably little about the costs, given that's the main claim going for it vs the estabilished alternatives.

unsigner 12/22/2025||

Peacetime technology from people who ignore the shooting war next door. Do you really want to build your energy system on huge soft targets? This looks much more vulnerable than solar arrays or battery installations to small-to-medium warheads (i.e anything from $500 FPV drones with an RPG round to $100k middle strike drones with 100 kg of payload).

lambdaone 12/22/2025||

It could be made much less vulnerable by dividing the gas storage balloon structures into a set of multiple smaller structures, ideally with some further internal partitioning so a single punctured surface does not release all the gas in that structure. Everything else is as 'hard' or 'soft' as any other piece of industrial plant, and can be hardened further by putting it inside a reinforced building or set of buildings, internal redundancy etc.

ehnto 12/22/2025|||

No reason this couldn't be put underground, except cost.

pmontra 12/22/2025||

Customers will evaluate the risks. Thermal power plants are an easy target too, and oil and gas pipelines. And the oil tankers, according to the news of the last weeks. By the way, nobody cares about oil spills anymore. I guess all those ships were sailing empty /s

unsigner 12/23/2025||

Of course they care about oil spills - this is why all the oil tankers in the last weeks were attacked when empty.

calmbonsai 12/22/2025||

I ain't got time for this. Give me a paper, some numbers, and a plant flow diagram.

javier_e06 12/22/2025||

So much potential! Get my CocaCola on the line! Heck give me Heineken too!

euroderf 12/23/2025||

Had to wade thru miles of marketing muck to get to the tech talk.

reader9274 12/22/2025||

Thunderf00t!! Get in here!

cramcgrab 12/22/2025||

I just plant trees. Have a ton of land in NY, just doing my part.

ycui1986 12/22/2025||

no mentioning of storage overhead? how much energy being wasted for each charging and discharging cycle?

chickenbig 12/22/2025|

https://energydome.com/co2-battery/ states 75% efficient.

mapt 12/22/2025|

> The problem is that even the best new grid-scale storage systems on the market—mainly lithium-ion batteries—provide only about 4 to 8 hours of storage.

This isn't the first time I've seen this sort of claim this week about batteries.

If you're a journalist writing these words, stop doing that, and consider your life choices. Ask your boss for tuition assistance to put you through a 7th grade summer-school science class on matter and energy.

If you're a journalist writing these words in an ostensibly technical engineering journal? Christ. I don't even know where to begin.

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