Credit: Nova Scotia Minehunters/Facebook.
As the world increasingly turns to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, the challenge of storing excess energy becomes increasingly pressing. But a new study from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Australia suggests that an unlikely solution may be hiding in plain sight: abandoned mines.
According to the study, decommissioned mines could be repurposed to operate as “gravity batteries.” The idea is simple: excess energy is used to lift heavy objects, like sand, up into the mine. When energy is needed again, the weight is dropped, spinning a turbine and converting the kinetic energy from gravity back into electricity.
This electricity can then be used when demands on the grid are high, and at other times, when there is excess energy in the grid, the gravity battery system uses…