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> I wonder what the environmental impact of "liquid metal" batteries would be

Keep in mind that in the use case these batteries are designed for, they would largely be replacing coal, oil, and natural gas.

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Probably not. It's commonly assumed that the development of grid-scale energy storage will enable a large-scale transition to intermittent renewables like solar and wind. In reality, it will just entrench the lowest cost energy source. If you can store large amounts of energy, why not use it with a natural gas plant that produces electricity at much lower costs than solar or wind?

>> why not use it with a natural gas plant that produces electricity at much lower costs than solar or wind?

I was under the impression that natural gas plants can operate continually and that therefore energy storage isn't needed. Could you explain how cheap energy storage would enhance natural gas plants?

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