Day 398 – Night Ride to Marfa

After sleeping most of the day away yesterday to rebuilt my energy reserves I decided to switch up my riding schedule to beat the heat. I also visited the massive liquid sodium and sulfur battery that powers Presidio when the sole electrical line that comes from Marfa is interrupted by storms.

It can put out 4 megawatts of power for up to 8 hours! I did some calculations and figured out it could charge 150,000 iPhone 6s. Not bad.

Currently it is the largest battery of it’s kind in the US.

I’m excited by the technology because it could be used to help integrate variable renewable energy such as, solar and wind, into the existing by acting as a buffer.

The New York Times did a good article on it.


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2 responses to “Day 398 – Night Ride to Marfa”

  1. Penny Avatar
    Penny

    Interesting article on Bob, the Big ole battery. Always good to read articles about research on alternate power sources. So much of whT we use nor adversely effects the environment, hopefully the arguem

  2. Penny Avatar
    Penny

    Hopefully the argument that coal and oil sources are necessary to keep society functioning, will no longer be true. Small steps can lead to big solutions.