In a recent ASME SmartBrief an article caught my attention. The Chicago-based company Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), who designed the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, UAE, the tallest tower in the world, is turning its attention to using gravity as the basis for storing energy. Energy from sources like wind and especially solar need to be stored when there is no wind or when the sun isn’t shining. Their idea is to lift weights using energy like wind and/or solar and then let them descend to drive electric generators.
It’s the basic conservation of energy principle, solar/wind energy gives the weights “potential” energy, then as the weights drop, gravity gives the weights “kinetic” energy to drive the generators.
It’s an interesting article that discusses the various projects SOM has in the works. What better way to store and utilize alternate energy sources than by the most universally available and ever present of forces – gravity.
Dr. Tom
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