News Reporter: How your next stove could cut your power bill

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By Michael J. Coren

Welcome. This week, orca food fights and wooden turbine blades. But first, batteries want to infiltrate your appliances.

((The Washington Post illustration; iStock))

Sixty years ago, giant mainframes dominated computing. Today, everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket. Something similar may be about to happen to our electrical grid.

At the moment, we depend on massive centralized power plants analogous to the old, room-size mainframes. But a new generation of household appliances, like stoves with batteries inside, could distribute energy sources all around us, creating a cleaner, more efficient grid.

So far, only a tiny number of these appliances are on sale: a few induction stoves and AC models powered by batteries big enough to last a few hours to a few days. Yet, within a few years, water heaters, dryers and heat pumps may all come with batteries included that store electricity and talk to the grid. “Everything that has a plug has a battery attached to it,” said Wally Nowinski of Impulse Labs, a battery-powered stovetop start-up.

For the right homeowner, it could make sense today. The reason is that the value of storing power inside the home has risen, for both grid operators and people just trying to cook or stay cool.

Appliances with built-in batteries can charge from the grid when power is cheap and clean, soaking up wind and solar energy, and draw down when it’s dear. They can also help homeowners avoid expensive, 240-volt wiring upgrades for high-powered devices like stoves. Battery-enhanced appliances run off a standard 120-volt outlet and tap their energy stores for extra juice when needed. Utilities can draw on these appliances to curb demand at peak times, or even pay homeowners to send electricity back to the grid.

For now, the challenge for homeowners is cost. Appliance batteries are roughly where Tesla was in 2008, when it released its first car, the Roadster. The company set out to prove that people would pay a premium for an unfamiliar but attractive technology, building a path toward the mass market.

It worked. Tesla’s modified $99,000 Lotus, powered by repurposed laptop batteries, led to the far more affordable and (still) wildly popular Models 3 and Y.

Today, Impulse and Copper, a competing start-up making induction stoves, are betting that sizzling-hot performance, without rewiring your kitchen, will attract buyers despite hefty price tags of around $6,000 to $7,000, roughly double the cost of a high-end gas or electric stove.

That, they argue, could pave the way for mass adoption as the cost of adding batteries — which have seen prices fall more than 90 percent since 2010 — declines further. Onboard storage could then become a standard feature, not a luxury.

“As a start-up, we’re making a product that’s designed for people to fall in love with,” said Sam Calisch, Copper’s co-founder and CEO. “Later, by working with others, we will make products that are more optimized for cost.”

I took a look at the Copper and Impulse battery-powered induction stoves and asked the experts what they portend about the future of home appliances. Here’s what I found.

Write to me at climatecoach@washpost.com. I read all your emails.

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Field Sample

Killer whales love to play, especially with their food.

(The Washington Post)

For the first time, scientists have captured two killer whales ramming their prey, in this case a sharp-tail sunfish, into pieces. It’s a new behavior for a species also known for smashing into boats.

Learning Curve

(Oliver Michael Maier)

Old technology is sometimes better. Wind turbines are now being outfitted with blades made from laminated veneer lumber — that is, wood.

The material enables quick, cost-effective manufacturing without fiberglass, according to Tom Siekmann, chief executive of Voodin Blade Technology, which manufactures wooden blades. The fully recyclable components cut CO₂ emissions by roughly 78 percent compared to conventional fiberglass blades, the company said.

(Oliver Michael Maier)

The E.U. is supporting the first industrial-scale factory for the wooden turbine blades, expected to open in Spain in 2027.

Snapshot

Intense wildfires are burning in France after a series of scorching heatwaves in Western Europe this summer.

Here, a French Canadair CL-415 aircraft flies over a wildfire burning near Cotignac in southeastern France on Thursday. It sent more than 18,800 people fleeing, the Guardian reports.

The fires are among the cascading climate effects as more frequent and extreme weather events strike the European continent. Tens of thousands of people are expected to die from extreme temperatures this summer because of critical heat stress.

to be used only in climate coach newsletter

Second Degree

Last week, I wrote about how your peanut butter jar, and nearly everything else, can be recycled. More than 600 people responded.

Most shared frustration at our fractured, inefficient recycling system. Perhaps the best quote was from Richard Schuster in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Even as a Ramsey County Recycling Ambassador,” he wrote, “I have to look up whether an item is recyclable or not.” Until most things are clearly labeled and accepted, Schuster argued, “thoughtless people should throw everything in the trash, because they’re polluting the recycling and composting streams.”

Others noted that recycling programs near them have been closing. They’ve shut down in Winter Garden, Ocala and Wakulla County in Florida, Staunton and western Loudoun County in Virginia, Truth or Consequences in New Mexico, and Berkeley County in Wisconsin, I was told.

Some readers were excited to learn more. “I had given up on recycling and now I learn in detail what I can ask my representatives about,” wrote one reader. “This level of detail empowers me to support beneficial trends, not give up.”

Finally, many endorsed giving your dog the job of cleaning peanut butter jars. (They also warned to avoid sugar-free formulas containing xylitol, which can be extremely toxic to dogs.)

Brett of Hanover, New Hampshire, said his dog Cosmo provides that service. “Sometimes the answer is less technology and more old-fashioned practicality.”

On the Climate Front

From The Post:

Trump officials seek to weaken historic-preservation reviews of projects.

Why this gas price surge could be different.

Do the skies seem hazy? Wildfires in Oregon could now be the cause.

Activists walk camels through Budapest to draw attention to drought.

From elsewhere:

State legislatures have stopped blocking clean energy. (Canary Media)

The deadly experiment that could save the American elm. (Grist)

Obeying the speed limit would save 57,000 tons of carbon a day and cost you 54 seconds. (Anthropocene)

How “fire clouds” worsened wildfires in Europe. (The Guardian)

I’ll be away for the next two weeks, but I’ll see you again August 10. Enjoy your summer — and write me with suggestions for what I should report on when I’m back.