Editing Energy storage (section)

{{Short description|Captured energy for later usage}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}}
[[File:Stwlan.dam.jpg|thumb|The Llyn Stwlan dam of the [[Ffestiniog Power Station|Ffestiniog]] [[pumped-storage hydroelectricity|Pumped-Storage Scheme]] in Wales. The lower power station has four water turbines which can generate a total of 360 MW of electricity for several hours, an example of artificial energy storage and conversion.]]
{{Power engineering}}
{{Sustainable energy}}
'''Energy storage''' is the capture of [[energy]] produced at one time for use at a later time<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clarke |first1=Energy |title=Energy Storage |url=https://www.clarke-energy.com/energy-storage/ |website=Clarke Energy |access-date=5 June 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728083046/https://www.clarke-energy.com/energy-storage/ |url-status=live }}</ref> to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an [[Accumulator (energy)|accumulator]] or [[Battery (electricity)|battery]]. Energy comes in multiple forms including radiation, [[chemical energy|chemical]], [[gravitational potential energy|gravitational potential]], [[Electric potential energy|electrical potential]], electricity, elevated temperature, [[latent heat]] and [[kinetic energy|kinetic]]. Energy storage involves converting energy from forms that are difficult to store to more conveniently or economically storable forms.

Some technologies provide short-term energy storage, while others can endure for much longer. Bulk energy storage is currently dominated by hydroelectric dams, both conventional as well as pumped. [[Grid energy storage]] is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid.

Common examples of energy storage are the [[rechargeable battery]], which stores chemical energy readily convertible to electricity to operate a mobile phone; the [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] dam, which stores energy in a [[reservoir]] as gravitational [[potential energy]]; and [[Ice storage air conditioning|ice storage]] tanks, which store ice frozen by cheaper energy at night to meet peak daytime demand for cooling.  [[Fossil fuel]]s such as coal and gasoline store ancient energy derived from sunlight by organisms that later died, became buried and over time were then converted into these fuels. [[Food]] (which is made by the same process as fossil fuels) is a form of energy stored in [[chemical]] form.
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