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(Image by Fmartin/Wikimedia. CC BY-SA3.0).
The world is coming to terms with climate change and the need to use more renewable energy. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. Worst, our ability to store energy for cold nights and still nights is still severely limited. It's possible to find a solution. This is not a fancy new technology, but it's a modern take on a decades-old problem. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis has devised a plan to create a network super-efficient gravity batteries capable of storing tens of terawatt hours of power.
Humanity has been harnessing small amounts of energy from gravity for centuries–technically, the pendulum clock is a primitive gravity battery. Scientists developed pumped storage hydroelectricity in the 20th century. This uses elevated water reservoirs as a way to store gravitational potential energies. Although there are many of these facilities in existence, most areas lack the water and terrain necessary to make them work. Underground Gravity Energy Storage (UGES), as proposed by IIASA, would make use of an existing resource: abandoned mine shafts.
UGES stores energy when there is plenty of it, such as when the sun shines on a solar power station. An electric motor would raise a heavy container of sand and rocks to the top of the mine shaft. The energy won't leave the shaft if the bucket is not moved. The grid can use the UGES to harvest power when power generation is lower by letting the vessel fall back down. Regenerative brakes would be used on the cabling by the UGES, much like electric cars extending their range when they apply the brakes. Contrary to batteries, which all lose power over long periods of time via self-discharge, sand has the same mass as electricity and will not run out.
Julian Hunt from IIASA says that mine closures can cause economic hardship in communities that rely on them for work. The IIASA plan may be cost-effective because a mine has all the infrastructure necessary to develop a gravity battery.
There are millions upon millions of abandoned mines all over the globe that could be used for UGES. Most of these are located in China, India and Russia (where there are more 550,000). According to the IIASA, investment costs for UGES would be between 1 and 10 USD/kWh. The potential energy storage could reach 70 terawatt-hours. This is enough energy to power the entire globe for 24 hours. This is obviously the best-case scenario. As the world moves to renewable energy, even a tenth of this, which is the lowest end of the estimated range could prove to be very helpful.
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By: Ryan Whitwam
Title: Scientists Propose Turning Abandoned Mines Into Super-Efficient Gravity Batteries
Sourced From: www.extremetech.com/extreme/342555-scientists-propose-turning-abandoned-mines-into-super-efficient-gravity-batteries
Published Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2023 12:49:28 +0000
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