On: The $100,000 Battery That Could Help Hotels Save B...

[greenyoda]

Also, there would be a loss when converting the batteries' DC back to AC to drive the hotel's air conditioning and other systems. And doesn't charging a battery generate heat, which you would need additional air conditioning to remove on a hot day?

I wonder whether it would be environmentally sustainable if every home or business in the world started using batteries for power storage and electric vehicles. For example, how much environmental damage would be incurred from mining lithium on a massive scale? Are there even enough known lithium deposits in the world to make this practical on a large scale?

[toomuchtodo → greenyoda]

You can mine lithium out of the ocean cost-effectively. By the time is becomes scarce, we will have moved on to a new technology.

[sjtgraham → greenyoda]

> And doesn't charging a battery generate heat, which you would need additional air conditioning to remove on a hot day?

Hot days are peak demand meaning batteries are discharging

> Are there even enough known lithium deposits in the world to make this practical on a large scale?

I don't know but given almost every rechargeable is Li, I'd say indicatively, yes.

[mikro2nd → greenyoda]

iirc inverters converting DC to AC are pretty efficient - 92-95% is common, 97% is quite do-able.