Finnish researchers have developed the world’s first “sand battery” capable of storing green energy for several months, making it an innovative solution to the global energy crisis.
Finland gets most of its gas from Russia, and the war in Ukraine has led scientists to focus their research on “green energy.”
And the British Broadcasting Corporation “BBC” reported that the world’s first “sand battery” was invented by Finnish researchers and engineers Marko Jelonen and Tommy Irunen in the city of Kankanpa, in the west of the country.
She added that the battery uses low-quality sand and is charged with “cheap electricity”, which is generated from solar or wind energy.
The source explained that the device stores heat at about 500 degrees Celsius, which can warm homes in the winter period, when energy is more expensive.
The sand battery consists of a large cylinder of insulating material containing a chain of electrical resistance and 100 tons of sand stacked inside a gray silo.
“When electricity prices go up at some point in the year, we want to be able to get it into storage very quickly and leave it there for several months,” the researchers said.
They added: “The sand battery is the ideal solution to accumulate excess energy, as it is inexpensive and does not use lithium or other rare materials.”