It's a train:
A California-based company called Advanced Rail Energy Storage (ARES) is using the power of gravity to help renewable energy utilities compete with coal and gas. The idea is to help solve the perennial problem of energy storage. Because wind and solar installations can’t always generate energy on demand — sometimes it’s cloudy and the air is still — green utilities need a reliable method of storing surplus energy.
There are several ways to do this using high-tech industrial batteries, flywheels, or hydroelectric facilities, but these approaches tend to be expensive and complicated.
ARES’s solution? Run some old trains up and down a hill.
It's 80% efficient, which is much better than most alternatives. Neat solution if you have to do wind or solar.
Well I'll be...
ReplyDeleteThat's a very interesting approach. Essentially like storing the energy in a flywheel, or other mechanical systems, but the steel wheels on a steel rail are a very low friction (loss) system.
Graybeard, I thought this was a *very* clever solution to the energy storage problem. It can be used lots of places where they use solar/wind (the wind farm in Pleasanton, CA comes to mind) since there are hills in many of these places. It uses off the shelf and proven technology, and can be done with surplus and even scrap equipment (rail cars not fit for use in long distance hauling might be just fine for this).
ReplyDeleteAnd the efficiency is pretty nifty.
It still doesn't change my view that most wind/solar is a waste, but this is no doubt a real win.
Back in the day, both The Milwaukee Road and The Virginian produced regenerative power on their respective electrified mountain divisions. It's an old technology, but it's a stunningly brilliant use of it.
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