Interesting area of Tech re: Renewable Energy sources

[JBR]

"Gravity batteries". The limitation of a number of sources of renewable energy — solar, wind, tidal, some forms of biomass — is that in many instances these cannot deliver electricity continually. Storing energy during a source's high-delivery periods, for substantial contribution to the grid when most required, can obviously offer advantages.

Conventional electricity storage in lithium batteries is very familiar to us and much depended upon. Lithium batteries are obviously useful, but they wear out, there are occasional flammability issues, and refined-lithium supply chains can become precarious.

But there are several ways by which ever-present gravity can be utilized to store and deliver electricity to the grid. With some systems, the research & development has been going on for a long time. If you're a bit curious about the different approaches, maybe skim this article... if you're really interested, you might read the whole thing.

Gravity Battery​

 

[Rossana]

Very interesting read. Thank you for sharing.

 

[bobcat]

At first, I thought it was just another crazy idea, but after understanding it, the concept is simple and elegant.
Just like chemical battery storage that charges when you have sun or wind, the gravity one just raises heavy weights during the charging cycle when the power source is present, and then when it isn't, the gravity pulling on the heavy weights is used to power everything. There are no chemicals or limited lifespan as there are in batteries. It sounds like it should work fine.

 

[gruntlabor]

Free, clean power! I want some for Christmas.

 

[Paco Dennis]

Pumped-Hydro Storage (PHS): This is the most mature and widely used form of gravity-based energy storage. It involves two reservoirs at different elevations. During times of low electricity demand, excess power is used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir. When power is needed, the water is released back down through turbines, generating electricity. This system has been used for over a century and accounts for the vast majority of the world's large-scale energy storage.

 

[bobcat]

View attachment 452164
Pumped-Hydro Storage (PHS): This is the most mature and widely used form of gravity-based energy storage. It involves two reservoirs at different elevations. During times of low electricity demand, excess power is used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir. When power is needed, the water is released back down through turbines, generating electricity. This system has been used for over a century and accounts for the vast majority of the world's large-scale energy storage.

Looks like a good system where reservoirs are present. I would imagine that the ones designed with weights are for areas where there are no reservoirs. Just guessing.