Energy storage experts gathering at PNNL in Richland

About 250 of the world’s leading energy storage experts are gathering at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland this week to discuss research that could make electric transportation and use of renewable energy more practical.

They will consider next-generation storage technologies that could be less costly, safer and more environmentally friendly that today’s state-of-the-art energy storage device, the lithium-ion battery.

Since 2009 the focus of the “Energy Storage Symposium: Beyond Lithium Ion” has expanded from better energy storage for electric vehicles to include large scale battery storage for renewable energy. Batteries can be used to store wind and solar power that can be produced only when the weather cooperates.

Participants also will have a chance to tour PNNL’s Advanced Battery Facility, one of a very few experimental battery manufacturing labs that are available to help academia and industry develop and test new batteries.

The annual symposium is co-organized by five Department of Energy national laboratories, NASA and IBM.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Energy storage experts gathering at PNNL in Richland."