From crisis to opportunity: Rebuilding cities with safer energy

Cities are at the forefront of innovative global energy solutions, and their ability to deploy at scale will determine the effectiveness of the energy transition. Urban areas, which are home to half of the global population and responsible for almost two-thirds of global CO2 emissions, are facing rising energy demands as they look to electrify their homes, commercial buildings and transportation systems. Simultaneously, extreme weather events, such as heat waves and winter storms, are becoming more frequent and straining power grids, leading to rolling blackouts that disturb both lives and economies.

The rising proliferation of AI and data centers in society further exacerbates this looming challenge. In fact, power demanded by AI-dedicated data centers is expected to rise from 1% of global energy demand in 2022 to over 3% by the end of the decade. Some individual facilities could soon use more power than entire cities just five years from now. These energy-intensive, rapidly urbanizing facilities require a 24/7 reliable power supply, underscoring the necessity for systems that can store and dispatch power consistently and safely.

In disaster-affected cities — such as Los Angeles recovering from recent wildfires — rebuilding efforts present a critical opportunity to integrate safer, more effective energy solutions into crowded, urban spaces. By embracing solutions such as alternative chemistry energy storage, cities can rebuild smarter, safer and more resilient futures.

Historically, power plants are massive facilities that use centralized scale to lower costs, and then leverage transmission infrastructure to distribute the energy. Typically, these facilities have been built far from cities due to safety, environmental and space concerns. However, distributed renewable energy generation — particularly solar — is different. This type of electrical energy generation doesn’t need the same massive scale to be economical, and is far more effective when located closer to where the power is consumed. 

As the appetite for microgrids, data centers and electric vehicle charging grows exponentially, deploying energy generation — and storage — closer to where it will be used becomes essential. This inherently means being closer to people as well, resulting in challenges and risks. Lithium-ion batteries can be extremely hazardous when things go wrong, and tragedies like the Moss Landing facility fire show the dangers that can come from living close to certain energy storage technologies.

As batteries are being deployed in more places and nearer to people, safety concerns are leading to increasing numbers of moratoriums and mandates around permitting lithium-ion batteries. For example, California’s AB 303 bill aims to bring stricter siting requirements for large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). Similarly, municipalities in Massachusetts have imposed moratoriums on utility-scale BESS projects to address safety concerns associated with the dangers of lithium-ion in dense residential neighborhoods. Staten Island is moving towards an outright ban on battery storage. 

And yet the underlying logic of using battery storage is unassailable. Cities are pushing forward on an electric future: New York City (70% of energy from renewable sources by 2030), San Francisco (100% renewable energy by 2025) and Los Angeles (100% by 2045). On top of these overarching targets, individual building owners in cities like New York face mandates to reduce emissions to avoid associated fines. These goals will not be achievable without local energy storage projects. 

A solution to the growing concerns about lithium is alternative battery chemistries. These chemistries can effectively do the job of energy storage, but without the safety risks. Alsym Green, for example, is inherently non-flammable, uses non-toxic materials and yet still offers high performance. Non-lithium battery alternatives don’t compromise on safety and can be installed where lithium-ion batteries simply cannot: inside buildings in dense urban areas, in highly flammable environments like chemical facilities, and near data centers.