Renewable energy from aluminium – it’s possible!

This is pretty fascinating and really makes me wonder what else is sitting right in front of us that we haven't fully understood yet. Innovations in building construction, design and materials are crucial for keeping a majority of our country's energy costs and usage down, and when we can keep energy usage at a minimum, renewables become a much more realistic energy source. 

Aluminum as an energy storage media?  Maybe, energy storage in metals (e.g. zinc, iron, boron) was studied many years ago for flow batteries and other mechanisms.  It takes complicated machines and new support industries with dubious efficiency and environmental issues.

The article speculates that 3-tons of aluminum, in the right machine, could heat an off-grid home for a year.

It would be much simpler to provide such homes with a tank of ammonia fuel (NH3).  it could be delivered by truck like propane, burned in a modified furnace, and/or used for electricity in a fuel cell.

The ammonia can be made from fossil fuel with CC&S, or from clean electricity using just water and air.

The ammonia route is simpler, because the only wastes produced from its use are water and nitrogen (basically air w/o O2).  We already have the infrastructure to handle it, since it's one of the most popular agricultural fertilizers.  It's use as a fuel is poised to grow, as it's the most appealing zero-carbon option for shipping, and among the best for long-haul trucks, buses, trains, and construction equipment.