Batteries are incredible little devices that allow us to power electronics without having to plug them into the wall. Sometimes it seems like we take them for granted. But we shouldn't. A recent tour of rock concerts in Denmark shows why. What the artist and his team have been able to do with batteries shows just what they are capable of.

For most of us, our experience with batteries is limited to our hand-held electronics and the cars we drive. We do not give much thought to how batteries can be used on an industrial scale. That wasn't the case for a Danish musician known as Lukas Graham. He believed in battery power enough to strike a deal with a wind turbine manufacturer to power his concerts without the need for grid-supplied energy.

72 Electric Truck Batteries

Outdoor concerts held in remote areas are generally powered by diesel generators. Promoters rely on diesel generators to not only power the stage and performance, but also all the lights and other electric devices around the venue. The diesel generators are certainly effective, but they are noisy and polluting.

Graham figured there had to be a better way. So he and his team devised a scheme involving seventy-two electric truck batteries they bought and installed in shipping containers. The batteries are powered up between concerts using wind power.

Backstage, the batteries are connected to an electrical panel to provide power for instruments, mics, effects boxes, stage lighting, and all the sound equipment. Graham and his team are so confident in the reliability of their system that they don't carry backup generators. If the electrical system fails, the concert stops.

In fairness, generators are still used to power the rest of the concert grounds. But Graham and his team hope to eventually transition all of that to battery power as well.

Paleblue on a Much Larger Scale

This sort of thing excites us because it really shows the capabilities of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. If you were to disassemble an electric truck or car battery, you would find out that it is essentially a case filled with lots of smaller batteries all connected in series. Those smaller batteries are remarkably similar to what we sell here at Paleblue Earth.

The electric truck or car battery is a lot like one of our batteries except on a much larger scale. So in a sense, Lukas Graham and his team are ramping up our efforts on an even grander scale. But it all works.

An extra bonus is putting on an outdoor concert without generating the pollution that comes from diesel generators. That is better for the environment. It also cuts down on noise pollution because the musicians aren't competing with the sound of huge generators running backstage. And of course, there is no diesel smell either.

Better Ways to Produce Electricity

All of this adds up to the realization that there are better ways to produce, store, and utilize electricity. Using wind power to charge electric truck batteries allows Graham to completely disconnect from the grid and fossil fuels to power his stage and instruments. If the team can manage to figure out how to do the same thing for the concert grounds, the operation could be mostly grid- and fossil fuel-free.

Sometimes it seems like we underestimate battery capabilities. It is a given that no technology is perfect – not even lithium-ion battery technology. But we can always do better in terms of developing the technology to be more efficient and productive. People like Lukas Graham and his team are doing just that.