Energy Storage Research Center Opens in Birmingham
Energy officials from around the country gathered Tuesday on the campus of Southern Research (SR), a Birmingham nonprofit specializing in science and technology, to celebrate the opening of the state’s first Energy Storage Research Center.
In his opening remarks, Corey Tyree, SR’s senior director of energy and environment, told the crowd of company executives, engineers and scientists that the center represents a new era.
“For 100 years in the electricity industry, the model was basically ‘make, move, sell electricity,’” Tyree said. “With the advent of energy storage, you can ‘make, move, hold, then sell electricity.’ Seems like not a big deal. It’s a big deal. It’s a really big deal.”
He said energy storage is the “key to unlocking” the potential of renewable power such as wind and solar. Being able to store that energy ensures it will be available to meet customer demand, even on a cloudy day with no breeze.
The research center will enable technology vendors and users to test out large-scale energy storage applications in an effort to improve the process and make it more cost-effective. The facility contains big, expensive batteries that can connect to Birmingham’s power grid, which, according to Tyree, is key for research.
“This center’s about doing due diligence and making sure this technology works before it ends up on the real grid,” he said.
Tyree said the facility, which cost several million dollars, is a collaborative effort, funded by groups including Southern Company, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Electric Power Research Institute and the state of Alabama.
How Alabama’s first commuted death sentence this century came about
Robin "Rocky" Myers has been on Alabama’s death row for more than 30 years. Then, on February 28, he became the first Alabamian this century to have his death sentence commuted.
Steve Reich has always been to able to hear the pulse
The 88-year-old composer, who talks as fast as the interlocking phrases of his music, looks back on crucial moments in a career that moved minimalism into the mainstream.
There’s a lot to unpack in ‘Black Bag’ — a witty, sexy spy thriller
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play a high-ranking spy couple in Steven Soderbergh's new film. Black Bag offers Bond-style globe-trotting intrigue and marital dramedy.
Photos: Across the U.S., sky gazers marvel at the blood moon lunar eclipse
As the moon moved through the shadow of the Earth, it was also being illuminated by light from the sun — causing the moon to appear as if dipped in a deep red hue in a stunning celestial sight.
Hamas says it’s willing to release the five American hostages in Gaza
Hamas, the militant group the U.S. has labeled as terrorists, says it's willing to release the one living American hostage and bodies of four others it's held in Gaza since the 2023 attacks in Israel.
Dorothy Thompson: The journalist who warned us about Hitler
Dorothy Thompson saw the rise of Nazi Germany as a foreign correspondent in Berlin. A new series from Radio Diaries tells the story of Thompson's career as a radio broadcaster.
