This Battery is Made of Sand

This is a battery made of sand. It’s 23 feet tall, filled with 100 tons of sand, and could be one solution to energy storage. Here's why.
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[@machnesntsn_ind.]

All fun and games until some guy falls in it and turns to sandman

[@tdthedestroyer1232]

Lol

[@fabiofanf3e813]

THE RUNNING WINNER OF THE 1ST STAGE

[@Venom2191onxbox]

Not sandman molten man

[@MrDsturman]

That’s not funny, that happened to my uncle Ben

[@Venom2191onxbox]

@@MrDsturman did he survive?

[@saltynutzz]

Thank you for telling us what it was in Celsius for the rest of the world Edit: for all the haters in the comment,thanks for the likes 😄

[@johnwisdomtv]

She said it wrong anyways. The video shows 500 degrees celsius, so the information of 1000 F is false and should’ve been 932F

[@jx.cx.6514]

Hey I never cry when someone in a video uses Celsius and Kilometers without an automatic conversion! If it's Important enough to me I'll do the calculations myself and go on ...

[@maximumkillmtg]

​@@jx.cx.6514 Well, there is also this idea of catering to the majority, or, you know, using the standard scientific units.

[@devluz]

It is actually targeting 500-600C (it is built in Europe after all) and the US media rounded it to 1000F and then she converted it back to Celsius and gave us an overly accurate number... So while I am happy she at least tried to convert it in this case it was done poorly :)

[@jx.cx.6514]

@@maximumkillmtg Understandable and laudable as a content creator, but regardless of "either or", instead of wasting recording time apologizing for using a specific measuring system, just SUPERIMPOSE the other unit of measurements on the video and continue with information .. In my case it's a wonderful mental exercise to think in both standard and metric systems. It allows for my mind to think in and consider several dimensions. It's like being bilingual or a polyglot; because of having mental access to different languages and cultural experiences, I gain a level of understanding greater than a person who chooses to only speak one language.

[@MrWildbill]

These cost over 200,000 bucks and can provide enough to power one small single family home for a few day in fairly cold weather to just a day in severely cold weather.

[@Sinvay]

Sand is one of the most critical ressource on the planet, controlled mainly by the black market

[@delmuswu-tangbroadnax9056]

While i can absolutely see the benefits of using this system, all i can think about is how warm this could make cities. Theyd probably act like giant radiators for the surrounding area along with the coils. I could be wrong

[@galacticwarlock2271]

The only problem is that whatever it is heating needs to travel so you would have to insulate wherever it is going but what a cool idea. Image every home having something like this.

[@JuddsonIvines]

Don't apologize for being an American; don't apologize for being you.

[@stevehoge]

Would be interested to hear about the new iron-air batteries that being used for utility-scale electrical storage.

[@GHOSTFACEKILLAv2]

Iron air batteries, although extremely cheap, have a low efficiency due to hydrogen evolution and overvoltage. You lose more than half the energy you put in and their only practical use is storing excess power that would otherwise be wasted

[@27haad]

Sand suffers from the tragedy of commons. It’s used in construction, glass and the silicon wafers that go into microprocessor and gpu’s. Beach sand that is generally more available is very fine(grain size is much smaller) for it to be a substitute.

[@DeShark88]

I'm sure it'll heat up just as well if it's round or small grain size or whatever. The ultra pure sand may be in short supply, but this technology does not need pure sand at all.

[@Zombi3NinjaKing]

Beach sand is what we are running low on. We have plenty of desert sand

[@dazeen9591]

Ah yes a sand battery. That's exactly what my Tesla needed.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

The lengths people go to to avoid fossil fuels and nuclear energy…

[@stevencurtis7157]

Sand doesn't grow naughty little tendrils and turn its container into a spicy pillow, so there's that.

[@massimookissed1023]

It also doesn't catch fire and refuse to extinguish when you dump water on it.

[@soul8bounce]

At 1000 degrees it can do whatever it wants…

[@stevencurtis7157]

@@soul8bounce What do you even mean by that?

[@duckman12498]

@@stevencurtis7157what do you even mean by naughty tendrils and spicy pillows lmaoo

[@stevencurtis7157]

@@duckman12498 Dendrites forming in the electrolyte of lithium ion batteries and causing a short, and overcharging or other faults causing lithium ion batteries to produce hydrogen gas and puff up.

[@Ph03nix1]

That’s pretty neat. Couple of questions: 1: How long does it take to heat up to 1000c using waste heat from solar? (I looked it up, and the actual idea is to heat up to 1000c, not 1000f) 2: how much heat loss are we talking from just sitting around? Not that much isn’t an answer if you’re planning on using this tech to heat people’s homes, especially if it gets cold in the winter. 3: how efficient is it? Extended from 2, if we’re talking about using it to heat homes in the winter, how do you plan on transporting that heat to each location? If you’re doing radiant heat, and just moving hot water, the plumbing used to transport it will waste even more heat, and simply dump it into the ground through the pipes. If you plan on using the heat to heat steam to power a turbine, you’re wasting just as much energy by using electric heating, and that’s before you even think about how many watts you could even generate off of these things by hooking them up to a steam turbine generator. After looking into it, even a few sources that have a clear bias towards “sustainable energy” solutions are skeptical about how useful this actually is. The best thing I’ve seen said about it from a source that actually seems to put some critical thinking into the matter is that it could be a way of harvesting a little extra energy out of solar, but it isn’t going to do what everyone claims it can, and it is by no means efficient.

[@patty4449]

And here is why it wont... We are literally short on sand... Globally... The type of sand needed for this is the exact same that is processed for construction etc... And we have a few too many buildings that used this sand so this special type of sand is no longer a cheap product... This comes in hand with glass price etc

[@isaactelesco2141]

You only get a quarter for the energy from solar, you only keep about 60 percent of that over distance, and about 75 of the remainder from the sand storage. You're left with 9/80ths of solar energy over time. With more maintenance cost and development/repair/maintinace effused toxic waste over time. Not to mention the sand will need to be combed, filtered and cleaned out of crystalsilica that's turning to superheated glass over time. Constantly.

[@bennyboyy7]

If it's holding heat then it's working, but water wouldve been a smarter choice I think. I don't know where you're getting these numbers but you definitely keep more than 60 percent over long distance. How do you think solar farms operate?

[@isaactelesco2141]

@@bennyboyy7 by continuous threshold and short term batteries. It's too expensive to have long term storage devices that are in these environments, not to mention that actual loss of energy through mere idling time. And the fact that it takes as long to charge the last 20 percent of a battery as it does the first 80 in these cases due to their load size. Germany is having to PAY people to take their excess energy in order to not damage their infrastructure by forcibly storing as much as they make when they have a surplus. It will not work as a passive energy system on a large scale. Until we find a way to, for lack of a better term, "crystallize energy" in a similar form to coal or fluid based fuels. Because energy is Motion of particles and waves. If you're making pure electricity, you do need some sort of heat sink to store it. But heat escapes constantly. That's its nature. The entropy element of all of this is baked into the storage of pure energy. It's just not as efficient clean or cost effective as nuclear.

[@LeoInterVir]

Nuclear power for base demand Natural gas for peak demand Solar and wind for when you're off the main grid, yet people keep trying to use it for main grid.

[@the_undead]

The f*** kind of toxic waste is sand water and a steam turbine going to create? It's literally just sand and literally just water and a basic steam turbine and electrical generator, Even if 10,000 of these sound batteries popped up all over the world right now. That might be 5% of the total amount of steam turbines globally, and I highly don't. It's even 5%. 1% is more realistic of a guess.

[@alexandervlaescu9901]

​@@LeoInterVir Really solar/wind were never meant to be used as a main energy source. Just install wherever there is room for them. No reason to force the situation.

[@MOZES.5]

As a german, I really appreciate the translation from fahrenheit to celsius🤝

[@oldtimegames96]

Small technical correction : Super heating would imply that sand has VAPORISED and the temperature of that vapor had exceeded 1700°C

[@joemartin6878]

🤓☝️

[@oldtimegames96]

@@joemartin6878 as if being a nerd is an insult. Grow up

[@skylerbowerbank5847]

Were getting loose with that definition of battery

[@lessonsfromfilms5101]

First, you crush on her, then you subscribe...

[@pingu208]

Rounding error, it would be 537.8°C rounded from 537.778°C

[@humha7613]

Some lightsaber wielding guy would be very mad when he found out about this battery

[@191.]

HAHAHA That's a good one. But, you don't really wield light, do you?

[@Speed-Of-Light-By-Meter]

You completely lost me at "sorry I'm an American."

[@bigjm3143]

Never apologize where you came from. Be proud

[@bigjm3143]

@iiwabo - اواب Who cares what the rest of the world does ! Whenever they have a problem, they come to the United States for help or answers.

[@bigjm3143]

@iiwabo - اواب"" Whatever snowflake !😆

[@vlatassa]

Reminds me of those clay pots with copper in them that were discovered in the middle east. Baghdad battery?

[@quirrel_dynasty]

*Oh wait im an American* *starts searching it up* 😂.

[@andrewwalley9589]

Believe it or not, sand is actually in short supply due to such high demand lately. 😅

[@clavo3352]

Sounds great. It's pretty low tech. The illustration does a great job. You don't explain the conversion of the stored heat to electricity. What losses are involved?

[@gordarcher9748]

*sigh* Build a battery out of sand, while sand is becoming a scarcity.

[@johngustafson9566]

Power homes? It's heat energy.

[@matteotriplett8231]

Im American I still use and love Fahrenheit

[@danielhall1226]

How do you convert heated sand into electrical energy?

[@shanu7430]

Me in russian accent - "Let me share this idea with my araabic friend" 😅

[@arizonamorningstar1838]

Wait, hot sand, then she cuts directly to turning on a electric lamp. I have to be missing something or all the deserts would have power cables coming out of them to the cities

[@JF42506]

Sorry for being the one thing keeping you safe and free... basically everyone on the planet

[@FoxesInBoots]

My question is how safe is it? Like, worst case scenario. How easy is it able to break, and what happens when it does?

[@endofdaysbroadcast8486]

This idea will die because of energy producers greed. They won't let it get anywhere because there's no money in it for them.

[@onradioactivewaves]

Thier website say 1000 ⁰C and over. Not Fahrenheit... pretty cool 😮

[@Chiraq312boi]

Never apologize for being American

[@wwtrs7749]

So where's the profit for politicians?

[@Nebukanezzer]

This isn't going to be a future method of energy storage by itself, but I can imagine something like New York's steam heating system that uses this kind of thing.

[@raheemabdul1066]

I wonder what the efficiency is like

[@gavinerickson9392]

You know what's sustainable and significantly more practical, nuclear power, from 1960.

[@explorewith_talha]

Every time I seeing you instead of caption titles . You just so beautiful 👍❤️

[@tysontomko]

"Sorry I'm an American" immediately stops watching lol. I respect C but don't apologize geesh

[@ddbb3195]

So why doesn't saudi arabia use their desert sands as storage batteries.

[@jimmcmahon4381]

And, how do they actually recover that stored energy?

[@thethpian]

Isn't salt more efficient?

[@Mr.J345]

I’d like to know the diameter of that cylinder I find it hard to believe there is 100ton of sand in it.

[@steamgent4592]

Wonder how much contamination occurs from its use. Otherwise good idea

[@iissamiam]

And you can use the kind of sand that isn’t suitable for making concrete.

[@grt49er]

Molten sand is not new.

[@VWGG1]

Yeah but how many hotdogs hot is that really?

[@seephisd]

This has been done with salt in towers already... how is this better?

[@darrellt3670]

Apologies because your from the US.

[@U2QuoZepplin]

I always feel like I don't know enough about the Farenheit scale. I'm so much more used to celcius and centigrade. It's like old money, aka old pounds shillings and pence . I don't know too much Shakespere either.

[@topedoworks]

Why can't everybody use celcius. Its just simple to understand. 100*c waters boiling point, just above 0*c melting point, 0*c freezing point.

[@boobyhatch7897]

I thought we were running out of sand

[@gradydorn4431]

I don't apologize for being an American.

[@lick28]

I thought we couldn't use heat energy because of entropy and whatnot

[@meme-innovis7487]

I feel like America’s gonna invade countries with lots of sand -oh wait

[@asherb938]

Why? the government would never do that.

[@wawa7236]

THEY NEED DEMOCRATY ! 😂😂

[@NotAcvp3lla]

​@@asherb938Lmao, the "oh wait" is the realization that they've already invaded the Middle East.

[@BoostedFA]

​@@wawa7236😂 facts..

[@wordzmyth]

Here's one we prepared earlier 😂😂😂😢

[@boaz2578]

“Without much loss” is a vague way of saying, “I dont know the efficiency, there’s a good chance its useless”.

[@MmMRmaxim]

Forget the efficiency, converting this energy back to electricity looks like a nightmare. Heat is usually a byproduct of energy conversion. One way or another the sand needs to be used to heat up water to start producing steam that will create electricity. The only way I see that getting is done, is by connecting water pipes inside this "battery". But the problem is that you are going to expose those pipes to heat 24/7 and without a constant stream of water, they can frankly just overheat.

[@andrewfaber9014]

You are a sweetheart. The efficiency is known. It's intentionally left out because of how pathetic this is.

[@MmMRmaxim]

Yes, I can see that you are right. I read more about this sand battery and as expected, the results were abysmal. Frankly though, it would be much more efficient to directly supply back the electricity to the grid. I know that some powerplants intentionally reduce their power output at certain hours to account for this additional source of electricity. @@andrewfaber9014

[@TheeDarkLlama]

I just looked it up, it’s 50%-60% efficient. Which I will admit is more than I expected. But definitely a lot worse over chemical based batteries

[@MmMRmaxim]

It's even worse than that. Sand will disperse its heat eventually. The more heat you give the sand, the faster it will go down. The 50% efficiency claim by itself is inaccurate because they ignore for which time period can it even retain that efficiency. Feeding the excess electricity back to the grid is the best thing to do.@@TheeDarkLlama

[@mfaizsyahmi]

The battery: _is made of a ton of sand_ Anakin Skywalker: _[confused screaming]_

[@AlHiette]

Yes! 😂

[@newgate-zerohour]

Meanwhile, Sheev: UNLIMITED POWER

[@Channel7331]

*100 tons

[@Firebolt_21]

My first thought 🤣

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

It’s coarse, and rough, and it gets everywhere. 🧐

[@puviyarasu_]

"Hey sorry my phone was dead, I forgot to charge my 100 tons of sand"

[@user-yv3jy3eo7x]

LMAOXHAHAH😂

[@noone4474]

We are so trained to operate on an individual level- yet we are social beings.

[@_________.]

@@noone4474 not really.

[@arkman117]

Lol I know your kidding, and that is hilarious it really is, but for anyone that reads this later and really wants to know what’s up, energy density per unit volume is the amount of energy capable of being stored in a storage medium by volume, so for lithium ion batteries that’s typically 100-250 WH/L that’s watt hours per liter, so per unit of volume less energy can be stored in the sand than a lithium ion battery, however an iPhone 14 battery holds just over 12 and 1/2 watt hrs of energy, this sand battery can hold around 8mw (mega watts) of energy, that’s roughly 8 million watt hrs worth of energy, that’s enough energy to charge 633,000 iPhone 14’s from 0-100.

[@blackinferno57]

​@@arkman117 came here to say this. she really could have tried a little harder to explain it, because theres definitely swathes of people that think their phone is more powerful than 100 tonne of hot sand

[@jonathan__g]

I wish there were details on how the energy leaves the sand.

[@wayland8]

As a guess, I would say they replace the hot water from the pipes with cold water. As the cold water runs in it, it get heated by the warm sand. Now you got hot water to use it!

[@L.L]

The sand in this instance is stored in a insulated steel silo with heat transfer pipes and charged with electricity - with electrical energy transferred to heat storage using a closed loop air-pipe arrangement. Air is heated using electrical resistors and circulated in the heat transfer piping. Heat is extracted by blowing cool air through the transfer pipes, with the air heating up as it passes through and converts water to process steam or district heating in an air-to-water heat exchanger. That is one way to do it

[@kurtsudheim825]

Hope they're well be a full vid in time which might explain it

[@kryptoniridium]

Insulated water pipes (insulated while outside the tank not when inside.. duh).. That's how we do it.

[@benjaminnead8557]

With those constantly high internal temperatures (refer to the Fahrenheit vs. Celsius discussion in the video,) a closed circuit of pipes could be plumbed through the sand chamber, with water entering in one end and super-heated steam coming out of the other. The steam can then spin a turbine to produce the electrons, as you would find with a coal or methane generating facility.

[@misterbalrog]

we use the same kind of technology where we store it in the ground/mountain rock underneath the house. The heat it stores there is then used to re-heat the house over the year.

[@chrdal]

It's very cool! A new school in my city has this.

[@AzaPiltzin]

Where?

[@israelweed]

No reply because it's BS

[@AvatarPuls]

Geo based heat pumps don't work this way. They use the temperature differential between underground and ground level to facilitate heat pumping. But there is no "getting back" the heat you pump into the ground, as it gets dispersed.

[@benzonex]

There is actually a shortage of sand in the world due to concrete construction.

[@HourRomanticist]

My thoughts exactly.

[@chitraksh9810]

Not as shortage as lithium

[@gergelystechnicmodels8565]

I believe concrete requires a specific type of sand found on beaches. Not sure if this battery could run on other types. There’s no shortage of sand in the world’s deserts.

[@rabbiama2940]

sand shortage is like water shortage its only in short supply in where you are other places have it in abundance but shipping cost more fuel than the cargo also the sand shortage is Beach Sand Desert sand is a plenty

[@jan-lukas]

Just use the desert sand which can be heated very similarly to the beach sand used in construction

[@MegaBeeYT]

In Spain, in the Tabernas Desert, there's a MASSIVE solar farm which uses a similar method however, replace sand with salt, it's more expensive, however, it stores the heat muuuuuuch better than just sand, look it up, it's awesome :3

[@ryanabbott1104]

That same company came to Arizona and we built a sister plant to that one.

[@kayoray]

If you dump the solar assembly and replace it with a nuclear reactor you can use the salt to cool it in a heat exchanger 🤓

[@1One2Three5Eight13]

I was thinking that 540 degrees seemed a little cool. I think I was remembering salt. That explains it.

[@ryanabbott1104]

@@1One2Three5Eight13 the thermal salt batteries that we use at our plant are heated to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. The salt goes molten around 500 or so I’m told.

[@mo7mo731]

i also learned from your comment that there is a desert in europe thank you

[@Julzaa]

"Sorry I'm American" is the most non-American thing I've ever heard 😂

[@jmackinjersey1]

She's a millennial.

[@G-Lew]

?

[@2017NationalChamps]

"Sorry i'm an American" is a very common thing to hear in youtube science channels. It probably helps monetization. 😢😢😢

[@Julzaa]

@@2017NationalChamps why the cry emoji? She's right

[@idon.t2156]

I like it. One day we might hear numbers in World units like meters, kilos and Celcius. Away with the other systems!

[@shadetreehomestader]

Grandpa had a 1,000 gl. Tank that he had flu pipes and water lines in , the tank was full of sand. He would burn wood or Cole in a berner made in the side of the tank. This would heat the sand during the day, so he didn't have to leave a fire unattended at night. He got most of the parts from pulling out an old boiler. From a house that he was remodeling, the owner wanted a gas furnace put in. And he only had to go out a few times a day to stoke the fire. And it was always nice and toasty in the mornings when we were having breakfast, after which he would start stoking the fire again. Once again old technology being used in a new way.

[@somethingsomething404]

I’m sorry for being this person but. Coal* burner* Cool story, my grandpa just left the fire burning all night

[@acuteteacher]

Well, that's not all he had to do. You must know he would occasionally have to remove the ashes. When my dad operated a wood stove in our home back in the seventies and eighties, that was really one of the biggest jobs. Those ashes would have hot coals in them as well so it was quite a dangerous job.

[@Ilostmyfangs]

😊

[@SKF358]

​@@somethingsomething404and flue pipes

[@SKF358]

I don't understand what the hot sand was heating and how. Also, is the gas furnace a separate house? Thanks!!!

[@bcataiji]

You forgot to say how they convert the heat back to electrical energy. It would be nice to know the overall efficiency after all conversions, as well.

[@InTimeTraveller]

They don't it's only heat storage for the winter. I mean in principle you could use it to super heat steam and turn it into electricity etc but I don't think the efficiencies would indeed work out. What they do is that they heat up water that is then distributed via district heating. So it's also limited to places that have district heating (in Norway this is popular).

[@aesthetics4days]

@@InTimeTravellerdude thanks i was super curious

[@winterkeptuswarm]

I agree with this. I think simply saying one side for clicks is not honest science communication.

[@bcataiji]

@@mihaiat3ka186 - definition of battery - a container consisting of one or more cells, in which chemical energy is converted into electricity and used as a source of power

[@mihaiat3ka186]

@@bcataiji what is chemical about sand being heated by electric coils ? THERMAL BATTERY, it stores calories not volts

[@TheDeepImpact965]

Phase 1: Heat up sand Phase 2: ??? Phase 3: Get energy back

[@mylesgray3470]

All my lights at home and my car run on hot sand. It makes total sense.

[@UNPhantom93]

I assume sand hot air will boil water to make steam and move the turbine or something. She left the most important detail. I think Germany or somewhere in Europe they heat the sand during summer and use it during winter to heat homes since the pipes are connected underground for all homes

[@GuidedMinistries]

So for the people that dont understand this doesn't hold electricity, it holds heat. Which can be turned to heat your home and to electricity. So technically this isn't a battery, just hot sand. Edit: this technology is not new, is one of the oldest technologies to hold heat in the world, but mainly used in hot climate because the sand was heated with the power of the sun during the day and kept you warm at night.

[@batistebonnamour6519]

Phase 3: profit!

[@grimdagoblinmain]

​@@GuidedMinistriesno, you use it to boil water which spins a turbine which then generates electricity.

[@ABUMUHAMAD1234]

The only downfall is that the neighborhood cats keep pooping in it

[@Mr_Uni]

😂

[@LittleLem0nJuice]

Hot poop help the sand retain heat..

[@gwenbatoon5262]

Bwahahaaaaaaa😂

[@logan8939]

Each time it's a different cat because they learned their lesson

[@Mark-uv6sm]

​@@logan8939that's Funny 😂

[@2engjnr2]

This is what we need in Africa. Convert the Sahara into a battery for the continent 😎

[@randybobandy9828]

It would be utterly useless in Africa. You don't need to heat your homes there.

[@TheKingacevedo]

​@@randybobandy9828 she also mentioned it could be used for power. Not just for heating a home. Not sure how that works, but that's what was said.

[@randybobandy9828]

@@TheKingacevedo it can't be used for power. There is no way to convert such a low temp sand into usable mechanical energy that can convert to electricity. We have solar systems that already do it but it's uses thousands of mirrors that all focuses the sunlight onto a single point that actually melts salt and that is used to create steam pressure that can turn a generator to power electricity. This is not that though. those systems reach 1600°C

[@TheKingacevedo]

@@randybobandy9828 I'm just going off the video buddy, calm down....

[@chunanchan3230]

​@@randybobandy9828 there is a thing called geothermal heat which uses heat from the earth which can apply to a lot of heat in sound

[@JohnFBramfeld]

You skipped the step where the heat becomes electricity.

[@conradculling]

They don't. It's just got heating water. Lol. This video is clickbait at its finest.

[@Sams.Videos]

You would not even have that. As soon as you take the rods out of the sand they will start to cool down. You would have a very short amount of time to use the heat, and only once, to heat water.

[@marias5230]

Ever heard of geothermal heat or district heating? You just install a pipe where water flows between the house and the battery. The water does not have to be more than a few degrees warmer than the air in the house in order for the house to get warm. The REAL problem is how we store wind and solar energy for times when it night or still weather. Also heating that battery is practically free whenever it's windy, because finland has a lot of wind turbines

[@marias5230]

​@@Sams.Videosyou have no idea what you are talking about

[@Sams.Videos]

​@@marias5230 Tell me genius, how does it work then?

[@anthonywilliams7052]

The "future" when this was used in the 70s and earlier using dirt, water, and rocks, as heat storage. Use it to store heat from the summer, cooling the homes, and heating them with that heat in the winter.

[@nejiniisan1265]

People reinventing the wheel

[@Georgi1804]

Some economic aspects here: the losses of the storage are getting higher with longer storage periods and with a higher storage temperature. Especially if you consider to power a generator with that heat, because then you need to run a steam cycle with the heat and for that you could generally assume an efficiency below 40%. That means 60% of the solar and wind power you put in will be lost forever, unless you recover the excess heat.

[@mikebomi5686]

Hi Anthony, how exactly does it works? 1st how it's possible to heat up the sand? 2nd how I can use the heated sand to use the heat in the winter? 3rd how I can convert the heat back to electric energy like the lady has shown it in her video? Many thanks.

[@Yusuf-no3bt]

She said it is a battery which means the sand works as an electrolyte in molten form similar to the dilute H2SO4 in your car battery

[@maniv100]

The problem isn't heating the sand, it's getting the heat back into electricity

[@specialneedsmolester1957]

I can blow your mind if I tell you how a power plant works

[@maniv100]

@@specialneedsmolester1957 lol making steam through constant heating through some kind of fuel isn't the same thing and using the sand. As soon as the surrounding sand to the heating element starts cooling off (which will happen pretty quickly) it's gonna slow to a halt and it will take a long ass time to heat it back up because sand is an insulator

[@conradculling]

They don't. They live in a fantasy world where you can use heat to power a town or a building magically.

[@rubber4943]

@@conradcullingye its not used for powering things, it’s used to heat buildings not for electricity

[@totsh2056]

Why would converting heat to electricity be a problem. Why do people just blurt out nonsense without knowing what they're talking about. Energy is energy. You can convert it mostly into any form you want. The problem to solve is efficiency and cost. Converting solar energy to thermal energy for storage has been around for ages, mostly using molten salts. Sand could be a viable alternative.

[@nienke7713]

If it can use desert sand, great! We have that in abundance with little use for it. If it relies on beach/sea/ocean sand, then it's not good, because that's actually a relatively scarce resource.

[@MarcusHawksley]

Any reasonably fine aggregate is usable. This system is primarily for heat storage only.

[@Levo.22]

Highly doubt that this principle relies on the material's abrassion, like concrete. So any sand would do

[@DemonZapan]

River sand also bad. Thanks for your comment 😊

[@thorn6809]

sand mafias world wide plundering beaches and such. what is the tourism industry thinking about that?

[@harinradadiya1931]

Its not sand it's Phase change material with high latent heat

[@bug5654]

"Sorry I'm an American." These Canadian immigrants are getting better at hiding their French accents.

[@billsmith212]

FYI The majority of Canadians don’t speak a word of French. There is only one province out of 10 which speak primarily french like I do. Regards

[@sgill4833]

FYI, Canada is in the Americas. America is not a country anywhere on this planet.

[@RBZ06LT6]

As a French Canadian, i can absolutely tell you this female is not a french speaking person.

[@lukedeulen1830]

She is not a French speaker, she said in a recent video she only speaks English.

[@grot777]

FYI, as noted by all the replies above a lot of canadians sadly cannot understand a joke 😢 its truly sad. OH HEY DER CANUCKS DER HE WAS JUST RIBBIN ON YA DER SO YA DONT NEED TO CORRECT WHAT HE IS TALKIN ABOOT DER EH HE WASNT LOOKIN TA GET JERSEY'D IN THE COMMENTS THERE EH BUDS hopefully that will help clear things up.

[@briandeng236]

" I don't like sand"-Anakin Skywalker

[@TheInfintyithGoofball]

I took notice of this comment and know what it means but I had no emotional response 🫤 🤷‍♀️

[@mepatton]

... especially when some nob heats it to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit...

[@GodMaxDrinkerofTea]

Anakin doesn't care about the future of our children, he has uh... He has proven that

[@deaftodd]

Sand is a problem because there's an air gap inside. Poor conductor. Plus, the tubing will get cooled down so that the ambient heat can't reach there anymore. That's why molten salt was a consideration but it requires much more heat.

[@fajile5109]

Sand is a the cheapest option but far from the best.

[@bennyboyy7]

I think water would be the best choice because of it's availability and thermal properties

[@Svabre]

@@bennyboyy7or how about taking lessons from hydroelectric dams?

[@the_undead]

​@@bennyboyy7I think the inefficiency of thermal transfer of the sand is partially a design choice, because then it can more easily hold in this heat instead of transferring it to the water all at once or to the outer walls,

[@gwenbatoon5262]

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh too complex..

[@mrsheabutter]

Concrete industry just entered the chat.

[@Soguwe]

It seems to be a steel structure tho

[@piotr8821]

​@@SoguweConcrete is used to store heat energy during the day and radiate it at night. Similar to the idea in the video, but it's being actively used inside buildings.

[@Be_vocalll]

​@@piotr8821living in concrete home my entire life, it doesn't work like that Gets cold in winter night because it radiates heat quickly requires room heater And hot during the day in summer as it absorbs heat and remains hot even during night as it cannot radiate quickly because temperature difference is less So videos describes a pretty good solution at least for cold countries

[@jungobango4815]

​@@Soguweconcrete needs sand and the concrete industry has made sand scarce

[@jakesnider1713]

@@jungobango4815sort of. The sand for concrete needs a specify shape for optimal concrete physical properties. The sand in deserts does not have an optimal shape for concrete and could be utilized here with no/little impact on the world concrete sand supply.

[@Anonymous_13000]

america be like:- sand need democracy 😂😂

[@coyaxx2770]

under rated comment😂

[@3CharctersOrMore]

Because only America has invaded other countries for resources, right?

[@Kube_Dog]

@@coyaxx2770 not really. it's cliché and dumb as sand

[@faz_s]

​@@Kube_Dog no it's funny.. And America deserves all the jokes made about it!

[@Kube_Dog]

@@faz_s America deserves jokes, for sure. But it's not funny. I mean, if someone is really stupid and simple, like short bus level, okay, I guess.

[@JustinTuthill]

Thanks, my HOA hates it

[@LifeOnHoth]

Hahahaha! Y they no like grain silos? :D

[@Ilikeanail]

Hard pass let the coons keep mining.

[@mdev69]

You should tell your HOA to sit and spin. Or move out of an HOA. We refuse to buy in an HOA. Senior citizens with nothing better to do all day is lurk and complain.

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

Watching this, I was thinking: that's very similar to the sand battery I heard about in Finland. Then I realize, you are talking about that exact battery.

[@asdfghyter]

Vatajankoski does indeed sound very Finnish!

[@tjsbbi]

​@@asdfghyter it's hard to finish.

[@asdfghyter]

@@tjsbbi finish what? finish when having sex with a sand battery? yes, that’s indeed true, it’s such a hiekkaa pillussa (note: extremely sexist term, but i doubt the battery will be offended)

[@dantemalus6533]

Thanks mate. Now I know what to search because I need more data on it. 👍

[@countmorbid3187]

It is NOT a battery! It is energy storage.

[@peterbulloch4328]

Is this why I feel so "energized " when I go to the beach?

[@hayeserie1300]

I feel that, my body involuntarily jumps around to spend the excess energy I got from the beach

[@ashupatil9098]

This was actually done on a big scale somewhere in Texas, the sand melted and the container couldn't hold it and the molten sand started leaking....the project was cancelled before covid itself......China tried replicating it in 2019 or 2020 but havent heard about it since then

[@spectre..74]

​@@ashupatil9098 source?

[@monsegeek]

Jokes aside, exposure to sunlight allegedly improves our metabolism because it aids mitochondrial function in a complicated manner that's a bit difficult to explain here. At least according to recent evidence. So I'd say it's not the sand, but the sun instead lol

[@knivesintoasters]

An interesting thing about the beach is that the breaking waves cause negative ions to be released in the air, which have been shown to elevate mood and reduce stress. I know it sounds like pseudo-science but look it up

[@Bikewithlove]

Every energy resource is “cheap” and “Abundant” until more than three people need it to get to work every day.

[@FatherMathew]

I also love to drive my sand powered car to work

[@Babinkley]

Not just 'cheap' and 'abundant' but free and unlimited. I have an electric car that I drive everyday. I charge it using stored solar energy. It is free, easy, efficient and works very well. At least two of my neighbors do the same. Sour grapes make good whine.

[@Babinkley]

​@@FatherMathewI charge my electric car for free using stored solar energy. I have not bought gasoline for years. Zero to sixty in 4 seconds is great, too.

[@glebkrawez5046]

​@@Babinkleyfirstly solar energy is not unlimited, even disregarding day-night cycle and cloudiness, there is prety limited amount of energy, transferring from sunlight to square meter od earth surface which also depends on latitude and some other factors, secondly are we including into cost of electricity cost of solar panels, energy storages and batteries and cost of their maintenance?

[@Andreas-gh6is]

@@FatherMathew eventually, electric cars will mostly get charged when energy is abundant, for whatever reason: Sun is up, wind is up and so on. The car already has a battery so it doesn''t necessarily need other storage.

[@slartibartfasttynsol420]

There was old tech called a storage heater - basically a big lump of concrete with a heating coil in it, in an aesthetically pleasing box. It would be heated by low cost off peak electricity at night and during the day keep the house warm. Similar principle.

[@natec1]

More efficient actually, since it doesn't have to convert back into electricity. Pretty cool

[@spasovskizzz]

we had one of these while i was growing up, my dad would turn it on at night and turn it off daytime, it did lower our energy bill during the winter. I used to sleep on it, it was nice.

[@jonskywalker2899]

Still have one. Also most northern states do.

[@DaimyoD0]

Or kind of like a masonry heater (or more simply, a brick fireplace) inside the home. Obviously, in that case, the goal is heat, not turning heat back into electricity.

[@jasondent4701]

Their are still schools that use it.

[@aboxthatdrools]

My dumbass thought the sand would turn to glass if you do that.

Need more details into this

[@kurtsudheim825]

I've seen a couple other people say this, I'm hoping there will be a full vid on time. But until then the comment right above yours has two people explaining

[@kurtsudheim825]

The one by Jonathan_g

[@aaronmazur8056]

You literally have Google on the device you're currently using. Stop being lazy

[@wilfweNightsky]

​@@aaronmazur8056 You can watch an advertisment, infomercial, read your tetrapack's nutritional information and say sure you know everything there is about the product. But then some wise consumer asshole actually spends their time researching about the product, finding different local healthy alternatives, read the history of the brand, and dox the ceo while they're at it. I think I'd rather be a lazy human looking for the experts in the comment section to read about something that won't directly affect me for the rest of my life.

[@dennisdexter5602]

So since the time of industrial revolution we have generated energy by burning things. This is how it works, they send water through the sand and it gets converted to steam at 100°C. This steam then goes into a turbine and the turbine generates electricity

[@PhilippBlum]

Well, I hope we use desert sand. We already have a sand crisis.

[@danielrose1392]

There is a shortage on the good qualities. For this you can use the very fine stuff which is a waste product when producing sand for the construction industry. Also other waste streams like finely crushed concrete should be suitable.

[@David_____]

Thank you for telling us how much energy they can hold and how great the efficiency would be! Oh wait…

[@massimookissed1023]

Energy density doesn't really matter when they're static and literally dirt cheap.

[@coolaidmedic5553]

@@massimookissed1023 Oh it matters my friend. One "tank" of sand holds a lot less energy than you would think.

[@jan_phd]

I was an engineer at a major aerospace corp, and our pilot plant used sand... soaked with car oil.

[@keledele]

What about saltwater and sand? Would that work?

[@iulioh]

​@@keledele it would not. Water evaporate at 100*c and this thing is 500*c You would need more water, more insulation and that does not scale well

[@SBahamondes]

How well did it work

[@josecarlo5432]

...a bird brain...

[@jimmurphy5739]

I keep coming back to Newton's law of cooling. Wouldn't it be better to heat (or cool) a bigger sphere of cheaply insulated water? The high temp of the super hot sand will need some pretty expensive insulation because it'll want to shed heat rapidly. But the closer the temp is to ambient, the slower the heat transfer (aka loss.) There's a sweet spot here somewhere which all works out to lowest overall price. Interesting problem.

[@jimmccourt4270]

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand. -Milton Friedman

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

This implies that the federal government of the USA is as incompetent as the Soviet Union, which seems rather questionable.

[@so-much-to-learn]

I guess that's where Joe is heading next

[@georgekingiv8171]

That's not true. Corporations have history of monetizing things that were free. They also bribe politician to pass laws that will make government's job harder. So they can privatize that service claiming government is doing bad job.

[@briholt100]

That'd be the corporations....

[@snaporatz]

Great, public money put to good use greens the desert

[@JerryDoe]

Take it with a grain of "salt" or should i say "sand". The efficiency isn't nearly as close in reality towards their claims. It costs $200,000 USD, not for the sand or the storage tank but for the insane Solar array you need to keep it warm. It is more cost effective to use that energy created by solar panels to directly use that energy for heating, lights, fridge... And it probably costs $3000 in equipment per home to do so.

[@AmatuerHourCoding]

The point is storing the energy Einstein

[@whirled_peas]

You misunderstand the point of this entirely. The solar array isn’t there to “keep it warm”. The sand battery is for storing excess energy when we have it, to be released when we don’t. It’s always going to be more efficient to use the power directly but that is the primary problem of renewables, we can’t always do that. But yes, always good to be skeptical.

[@shahid3520]

@@AmatuerHourCoding :)))))

[@uthoshantm]

"with the right insulation"... exactly. Also, with the right efficiency, with the right cost, with the right energy production source, with the right...

[@andrewgreeb916]

You can achieve a battery, a way to reduce your energy efficiency by 50%. You're better off just making the power as its needed

[@Bari_Khan_CEng_CMarEng]

And by 'sustainable' compared to lithium is the use of child exploitation, and modern slavery.

[@Bari_Khan_CEng_CMarEng]

@@SaturatedCat cheers for the correction if that is the case, as I was quoting a scholar who mentioned this about lithium in particular.

[@Kero-zc5tc]

I feel like using something harnessing gravitational potential energy would be so much better

[@cpt.varagos5257]

Well, in Switzerland we have water retention dams for that. Is there too much energy we pump water up the mountains and then later if needed we let it flow down trough hydrowelectricpowerplants to generate new electricity. (Yes most words are googled as i lack the technical vocab)

[@ImKrazyFrench]

Isn't sand projected to be a scarce ressource in the near future?

[@Munchausenification]

Building sand is, sand from the Sahara or other sources where the sand is more "round" is very much abundant

[@gijswinkelhuijzen7874]

What type of sand is required for battery purposes tho?

[@Munchausenification]

@@gijswinkelhuijzen7874 yeah i asked in the comments for what type of sand is best for the energy storage. might just be that building sand is the best for heat retention

[@rehanb637]

Sand is just one of many material being used in thermal energy storage (TES) devices. There’s one that uses just basic rocks sourced in the areas surrounding the place of construction to lower transport costs, another uses compressed carbon blocks impregnated with aluminium shavings, when the bricks are heated the Aluminium undergoes phase change turning into a liquid and the carbon contains it keeping it safe and also storing the excess heat.

[@1995blooper]

@@Munchausenification building sand is useful for building because it’s rough edges help it bind well. I don’t think that’s a requirement for heat storage, which should just need mass.

[@stuiesmb]

I love unique battery designs. My favourite are analogue batteries like ones that use water displacement (pump water up when energy is abundant; let water out to spin turbines when energy is scarce).

[@lelowijnands]

flywheels are also cool ones ;)

[@TLguitar]

Gravitational potential has a very low energy density. You need millions of tons of water or any other mass lifted dozens of meters up in the air in order for it to hold any meaningful amount of energy for city-scale usage. A cube of 20x20x20 meters holding 8,000 metric tons of water (over 3 olympic pools) at an average height of 50 meters (about 14 storey building) has a gravitational potential of just over 1 megawatt hours. Even if the storage and extraction processes were completely efficient (which they aren't), that amount of energy is just enough for a single day's worth of electricity needs of 30-40 homes. That construction doesn't sound big enough? Then let's make a gigastructure where the water container is 100x100x100 meters (1,000,000 metric tons) and the average water height is 100 meters. Now the gravitational potential is 270 megawatt hours, which are enough for a single day's worth of electricity needs of about 10,000 homes or a small-medium city.

[@dansmirnov236]

​@@TLguitar water dams all over the world are quite indicative that gravitational storage works and does it quite well.

[@TLguitar]

@@dansmirnov236 Do you know how much water is stored at height in dams? They are often hundreds of meters across, hold water at several hundreds of meters height, and are filled by rain-sustained rivers that end up creating reservoirs which are thousands of times larger than the 100m³ water container I exemplified. All this means they can only be built into specific locations that answer several different requirements, and to which a "from scratch" gravity battery is not analogous.

[@georgetreduen4502]

You trynna tell me using sand is any more sustainable?

[@tjmoneybags]

I knew a guy who built his own system like this to heat his home. The problem with sand heating and cooling is that it expands and contracts. When it contracts it settles deeper. Then it expands as it heats up and hydraulically destroys the container. I wonder how they got around that. Maybe with something that holds it in smaller units....but it's not just a big can of sand. That just doesn't work.

[@xen1313]

You can counter this by tapering the container, causing the sand to expand up the sides rather than push against the side. Or, like water towers, gradient reinforcement, the bands at the bottom, two around the mid and one around the top. I'd like to see this system used with Glycol in a closed loop to turn a generator, heat pump style.

[@ThatGuyKazz]

@@xen1313 was thinking the same thing make the bottom more cone shaped so lateral expansion will be redirected upwards. probably not a perfect solution but It should mitigate the issue.

[@lucasd1646]

Very impressive, now she has to explain how to fit a 100 ton, 23 ft battery in my two bedroom house.

[@myriadtechrepair1191]

It’s…. It’s meant to go on the grid not in your house. You missed the ‘getting the energy out’ problem while you were busy tearing down your straw man.

[@oddctioum]

@@myriadtechrepair1191 why would you put a heat storage on your energy grid? and why do you believe stuff thats obviously fake from a random internet user to then criticise the sceptic for a valid point? are you really that stupid?

[@buddyrevell511]

underground, obviously.

[@seanwilner]

@@myriadtechrepair1191in their defense, Cleo doesn't really go into the "getting the energy out" part of the equation, and afaik these aren't really used for grid storage and instead are mostly only useful in regions with communal heat piping (more common in VERY cold regions -- which tracks with the name on the thermal battery "POLAR NIGHT ENERGY") since the stored heat can be released usefully as heat rather than needing to turn a turbine somewhere to produce electricity (at which point the losses become pretty substantial)

[@illik4018]

Wonder how well they will work in the winter.

[@Itmakesyouthink]

Make sure you only use non-concret grade sand, because there is a shortage of that type.