Electrifying potential
The falling cost of storing energy is emerging as a key enabler of electric vehicle and renewables growth. The oil and gas industry is taking notice
When the Aliso Canyon gas storage site in Southern California had to be shut down in the summer of 2016 following a massive months-long leak, utilities warned that the region was facing a prospect of crippling energy shortages. The site supplied fuel to a network of gas-fired power plants across the region that kept the lights on and air conditioners pumping during times of high demand, like summer heat waves. With the site out of commission, regulators and power generators were left scrambling to plug the power gap. They turned to an untested option: stacks of lithium-ion batteries that could hold power to be dispatched as demand peaked, serving a similar function as the gas stored under Al
Also in this section
22 July 2025
Sinopec hosts launch of global sharing platform as Beijing looks to draw on international investors and expertise
22 July 2025
Africa’s most populous nation puts cap-and-trade and voluntary markets at the centre of its emerging strategy to achieve net zero by 2060
17 July 2025
Oil and gas companies will face penalties if they fail to reach the EU’s binding CO₂ injection targets for 2030, but they could also risk building underused and unprofitable CCS infrastructure
9 July 2025
Latin American country plans a cap-and-trade system and supports the scale-up of CCS as it prepares to host COP30
