Technological Advances in Energy Storage: Environmental and Cyber Challenges, Opportunities and Threats—A Review

Energy storage plays a key role in the energy transition by enabling the effective integration of variable renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power and by supporting the stability and flexibility of modern energy systems. The rapid development of energy storage technologies has become one of the pillars of sustainable energy management; however, it simultaneously raises environmental, material, and systemic challenges. This review analyses the environmental implications of energy storage development using an integrative perspective that combines technological, environmental, and system-level analysis. The paper examines major classes of energy storage technologies, including electrochemical, mechanical and physical, thermal energy storage, and chemical pathways within Power-to-X, with particular emphasis on their technical characteristics, maturity, and life cycle environmental performance. Lithium-ion battery systems typically achieve round-trip efficiencies of 85–92% and cycle lifetimes exceeding 5000 cycles, while flow batteries may exceed 10,000 cycles under stationary operating conditions. Mechanical storage technologies such as pumped hydro provide efficiencies of approximately 70–85% with operational lifetimes exceeding several decades. Key challenges related to critical raw material availability, recycling, end-of-life management, and ecosystem impacts are discussed, highlighting the importance of sustainable production and recovery strategies in supporting the circular economy. In addition, the review addresses the consequences of insufficient reuse of secondary materials and the growing relevance of digitisation and cyber resilience of energy storage systems as indirect contributors to environmental risk. The review also considers geopolitical aspects related to critical material supply chains and the cyber security of energy storage infrastructure, emphasising their growing importance for the resilience and environmental sustainability of future energy systems. The analysis indicates that further development of energy storage technologies will significantly influence not only power systems but also transport, industry, and heat sectors. The results emphasise that sustainable deployment of energy storage requires hybrid system architectures and policy frameworks that account for environmental performance, system flexibility, and long-term resilience in line with the principles of sustainable development.