Could Gravity Batteries Solve the Renewable Energy Problem

Solar and wind can generate a whole lot of pollution-free electricity.  But what do we do when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing?  We use batteries.  That is, when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, we charge up batteries to be used later on.  Batteries don’t have to be chemical ones.  We don’t have to use things like lithium and other chemicals to store the power.  We can simply use gravity.  One example of a gravity battery is used extensively in California.  When there is an extra amount of electricity in the system, water is pumped uphill and stored in a reservoir.  When the electricity is needed, the water is released down hill to spin turbines and create electricity.  But not everybody has a hill with a reservoir on top.  Be we all have area enough to accommodate other types of gravity batteries.

This video shows an example of a completely viable gravity battery that could be deployed everywhere.

Energy Vault 3D Simulation – YouTube

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Categories: Weather Blog