![]() ![]() One of the things that struck me when I spoke with Energy Vault’s CEO, Robert Piconi, was his comment that he thought of Energy Vault as a materials science firm. The discussion of materials makes a nice segue to my next point. Last, steel and concrete are presently high carbon footprint materials, but a lot of research is being done into cutting and eliminating emissions from those activities (e.g., Blue Planet for cement manufacturing, SSAB for steel production). The point of an investment is to realize an immediate expense in the expectation of an uncertain future payoff by investing part of the world’s carbon budget in the short-term building an EVRC facility, we buy a long-lived asset that carries out a necessary function while emitting no greenhouse gases. Second, we simply cannot build new infrastructure - infrastructure that is necessary for future emission reductions - without emitting greenhouse gases. We do have to pay attention to the Scope 3 emissions embedded in the materials that go into the products we use, and make sure that the projects we undertake offer true benefits that offer net GHG emission reductions in a reasonable amount of time. To these critics, I have a few responses:įirst, I agree with your basic premise. Steel and reinforced concrete is used in the buildings and both materials carry a heavy cost in carbon emissions. Some critics of Energy Vault talk about how large of a carbon footprint constructing EVRCs will be. (Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images It uses lithium-ion batteries to capture excess electricity from the grid and release it when needed later, typically during solar and wind down times. Vistra Zero is the largest energy storage system of its kind in the world, able to store up to 300Mw of power. Tesla facility behind it in Moss Landing, Calif., on Wednesday, January 13, 2021. The Vistra Zero facility, long building at center, at the Moss Landing Power Plant with a similar. Some local work may be needed to pour concrete foundations for Lithium-ion installations, but the installations themselves tend to be assembled at a German or Californian plant and shipped intact to the facility location. Lithium-ion battery components are mined, and the batteries and their housings are assembled in far-away factories the economic advantages from the production of those batteries are highly concentrated. This advantage of Energy Vault’s local construction project over the assembly of Lithium-ion battery facilities cannot be overstated. This difference in approach is worth a great deal in my opinion, in that it provides a way for a wider segment of the population, including people living in rural areas, to directly benefit from low-carbon transition projects. In other words, because EVRCs are construction projects, they create local jobs and stimulate local economies. Because EVRCs are constructed rather than manufactured, there is a major component of the Energy Vault solution that simply cannot be outsourced to low-wage countries.
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