The possibility of electric cars using their batteries to provide energy to the electricity system at times when solar or wind power generation decreases has been studied for a long time.

And some scientists have recently published in  Nature Communitations  a study on what could happen in the year 2050, if the electric cars of that time took advantage of the charge they would have stored in their batteries to "help" as back-up systems. electrical power at that time.

A majority of users put their electric cars to charge at the end of the day and at night, which is when the contribution of solar electricity decreases. And it is also at the beginning of sunset when the demand for electrical energy increases when people get home from work.

At such times, the peak energy demand could be provided by the batteries of electric cars connected to the grid, instead of using electricity generation based on fossil fuels. And when the peak demand drops, the batteries of connected electric cars could be charged again.

Based on current forecasts, these scientists have estimated the number of cars that there will be between now and 2050 and the energy that they could contribute to the electrical grid, and they consider that it could be between 40 and 50 Terawatts/hour.

And on the other hand they have also estimated the necessary energy that would be needed in those peaks of need, and they believe that it would be of the order of 20 Terawatts/hour. In other words, only with electric cars could most of the energy peaks that result on those dates be compensated.

Of course they are only estimates, but they give us an idea of where some of the energy solutions of the future could go. And also where the work of the electricity companies should affect to improve their service while minimizing costs.

Users would also have to be convinced to collaborate and provide the charge for their car batteries. Which I think is quite easy if they are offered financial incentives to do it.

We still have many things to improve, and not too much time to do it.

Amador Palacios

By Amador Palacios

Reflections of Amador Palacios on topics of Social and Technological News; other opinions different from mine are welcome

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