Caught in a constant race between its AI power needs and carbon emissions reduction pledges, Google’s latest sustainability commitment sees it considering giant bags of carbon dioxide as a solution to dirty energy.
Google and Italian startup Energy Dome recently announced a deal that sees Google not only deploying Energy Dome’s gas bags in various regions where it operates datacenters, but also making a “strategic investment” in Energy Dome for an unspecified amount of money (Google declined to specify how much when asked).
For those wondering what exactly Energy Dome’s … uh … energy domes are, think of them as another in a long line of long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions designed to store excess energy generated by renewables like wind and solar.
While batteries are the most common form of LDES, the renewable energy boom has prompted the conceptualization of a number of different LDES systems. Gravity batteries are one of the most common (i.e., raising a heavy weight up when excess power is available and dropping it back down when there’s an energy shortage). While not a gravity battery, Energy Dome’s product definitely fills the same niche.
Instead of raising and lowering heavy weights, Energy Dome uses a closed-loop system to pressurize CO2 gas into a liquid when renewable energy is plentiful. When energy is scarce, the CO2 liquid is heated back into a gas used to turn a turbine, which spits the now-evaporated CO2 back into a massive bag. Repeat cycle as needed.
But why install a giant bag of gas for storing electricity when batteries work just fine? It’s a matter of capacity, Google noted.
“Lithium-ion batteries, which typically store and dispatch power for 4 hours or less, have been critical for adding electricity capacity to grids and managing short-term fluctuations in renewable generation,” Google pointed out. But that four-hour duration limits their utility.
With a massive bag of gas from Energy Dome, however, Google would have energy for “more than a few hours, or even a full day,” the company said. With its energy footprint having risen 48 percent since 2019 despite a pledge to go carbon-neutral by 2030, Google could use any clean energy offset it could get.
Energy Dome describes each of its units as site-specific and custom to the user’s needs, and the company’s website makes no mention of the size-to-energy storage ratio. We asked, but didn’t hear back.
It’s also not clear whether Google intends to deploy Energy Dome systems at its facilities to serve as a colocated energy solution, or if they’d be deployed on the grid and Google would buy energy from the units via a power purchase agreement. Based on the language in Energy Dome’s and Google’s announcements of the deal, it appears on-grid installations are more likely, but Google declined to answer the question.
Nonetheless, Google is confident that its investment in the technology will be worth more than some of the other pie-in-the-sky renewable energy ventures it has engaged in.
LDES technology from Energy Dome “has the potential to commercialize much faster than some of the other advanced clean energy technologies in our portfolio,” Google admitted in its press release. “This means we can use it in the near term to help the electricity system grow more flexibly and reliably, alongside other tools we’re developing.”
A Google spokesperson added that, unlike some of those other projects, Energy Dome’s tech “has already proven successful.” Google cited two Italian facilities – a demo site and a full-scale 20MW/200MWh plant – have been up and running for more than three years. Energy Dome also has deals to build gas bags with other companies in Italy, the US, and India.
Energy Dome credits its design, which relies exclusively on off-the-shelf components, as part of the reason its tech has been so easy to actualize.
As for where or when the first Google gas bag might appear, you’ll have to keep your eyes open because while Google did confirm the deal, once again, it wouldn’t share any details. ®