Dear EarthTalk: What exactly is gravity energy storage and why are some environmentalists so bullish on it?
—James McIntosh, New York, NY
Switzerland-based Energy Vault is one of the companies developing prototype gravity energy storage solutions that could someday replace batteries as a way to hold onto energy for use on days when intermittent renewables (solar, wind) aren’t cutting it in a post-fossil-fuel world.
Gravity energy storage, whereby engineers harness the energy in gravitational forces by connecting the momentum generated to the electric grid, is a relatively new technology that could serve to revolutionize energy storage given its low carbon footprint and engineering simplicity. Pilot programs to test the technology and bring it to scale are already underway in Switzerland, Scotland and the United States. Environmentalists are bullish about the…
Could Gravity Energy Storage Be A Fossil Fuel & Battery Killer?
