A review of thermal energy storage technologies for seasonal loops

As mitigating climate change becomes an increasing worldwide focus, it is vital to explore a diverse range of technologies for reducing emissions. Heating and cooling make up a significant proportion of energy demand, both domestically and in industry. An effective method of reducing this energy demand is the storage and use of waste heat through the application of seasonal thermal energy storage, used to address the mismatch between supply and demand and greatly increasing the efficiency of renewable resources. Four methods of sensible heat storage; Tank, pit, borehole, and aquifer thermal energy storage are at the time of writing at a more advanced stage of development when compared with other methods of thermal storage and are already being implemented within energy systems. This review aims to identify some of the barriers to development currently facing these methods of seasonal thermal energy storage, and subsequently some of the work being undertaken to address these barriers in order to facilitate wider levels of adoption throughout energy systems.