Month: January 2019

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Battlefield V developer DICE now says it's not sure whether it will be able to "deliver" the series' traditional Rental Server Program (RSP) for the latest game in the franchise.

Both Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 1 offered players the opportunity to host customizable multiplayer gameplay servers by renting server time from publisher Electronic Arts or third-party providers directly. DICE made a brief mention of server rentals for Battlefield V back in September, but only to confirm that the feature wouldn't be ready for the game's November launch.

In the months since then, players have been holding out hope that the RSP was still in the works as a post-launch addition to the game. But in a Reddit thread posted earlier this week, DICE Community Manager Dan Mitre said, "You haven't seen an update in our direction with RSP because we haven't made a full decision internally whether or not we can deliver it."

Enlarge

Battlefield V developer DICE now says it's not sure whether it will be able to "deliver" the series' traditional Rental Server Program (RSP) for the latest game in the franchise.

Both Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 1 offered players the opportunity to host customizable multiplayer gameplay servers by renting server time from publisher Electronic Arts or third-party providers directly. DICE made a brief mention of server rentals for Battlefield V back in September, but only to confirm that the feature wouldn't be ready for the game's November launch.

In the months since then, players have been holding out hope that the RSP was still in the works as a post-launch addition to the game. But in a Reddit thread posted earlier this week, DICE Community Manager Dan Mitre said, "You haven't seen an update in our direction with RSP because we haven't made a full decision internally whether or not we can deliver it."

Enlarge / This 110MW non-adiabatic compressed air plant in McIntosh Alabama has been operating since 1991. (credit: Power South)

Decarbonizing the world's electricity grids won't be an easy task, but it is a necessary one if we're going to mitigate some of the worst effects of climate change. Since wind and solar power are intermittent, part of decarbonizing the grid will involve storing renewable energy for use when the Sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing.

While day-to-day storage will cover the gaps when the wind slacks or the Sun sets, on grids with more than 80 percent renewable energy you're also going to want inter-seasonal storage. This is because sun and wind are seasonal, and energy demand is also seasonal—people use a lot more energy in the winter than they do in the spring, because it's darker and colder outside.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde think that one potential step towards seasonal storage should involve identifying large underground saline aquifers where energy could be stored as compressed air. Saline aquifers are usually found underwater; the compressed air will displace some of the water, which can be discarded as it's not potable.