A major problem with so-called “green” sources of electric power is their intermittent nature. Electric power is hard to store as electricity for use later. What if the power was stored as kinetic energy?
Website msn.com has a report from Futurism about a new way to store power - generated when the sun shines and the wind blows - that doesn’t involve rare earth batteries. The idea is simple, use peak period electric power to lift multi-ton weights vertically hundreds of feet, generating potential kinetic energy.
When power is needed, use the force generated as gravity pulls those back down to spin generators and produce electricity. A Swiss firm has built a demonstration facility which generates 5 megawatts of power, and larger facilities are under construction.
A system like this exists at several hydroelectric facilities where unneeded power is used to pump water back up into the reservoir. It can then be rereleased to generate power when wind and solar are offline.
The difference here is that no convenient mountain reservoir is required. They build a building in which they move multi-ton blocks of stabilized ‘adobe’ up to store power, and lower them to generate power. Overcoming gravity to hoist weight, and allowing it to pull that suspended weight back down is the inexhaustible mechanism employed. Both cheaper and longer lasting than batteries.
