Natural reservoirs: Overview
Nature's own batteries: snow, lakes, oceans and hot rock
Nature's own batteries: snow, lakes, oceans and hot rock What this tile covers Nature's own stores: snowpack, lakes, glaciers, ocean and ground heat, and the air's pressure differences. Share of use 6.7% share of world stored energy (2021)Share of the world's stored energy (energy capacity held, TWh, latest year 2019 to 2026) across the forms with figures, about 22,551 TWh; fuel stocks dominate. Battery and other stores count capacity, not state of charge (calculated) Hydropower reservoirs worldwide can hold about 1,500 TWh of electricity over a full cycle (IEA, 2021), of 22,551 TWh. Snowpack, ocean and ground heat are left out because they are not drawn on as stores. Source: Dams, 'water batteries' in the mountains (reporting the IEA Hydropower Special Market Report 2021), Renewable Matter.
Key facts
| Duration | Seasons and longer |
Included from the reference tables
- Reservoirs, lakes, snowpack, glaciers
- Ocean and geothermal heat
- Atmospheric pressure and temperature gradients
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