David SacerdoteCalifornia now handles a large part of evening peak electricity demand by drawing on batteries charged using wind and solar during the day.
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lolcatWhy not use more "gravity batteries" - pushing mass uphill (water, railroad cars, etc.), then letting it run back downhill when you need power?
Haven't done the math, but seems like it should have at least some usefulness.
@lolcat Basically, anything other than pumped hydro is really expensive as compared with chemical batteries:
Thanks!
FWIW, the author might reach a wider audience by adopting a less snotty tone. True, Energy Vault deserves all the ridicule it gets, but an explainer-type piece might not be the best place for it. Moreover, the author makes some silly, and unecessary, assumptions. E.g. rail cars don't have to park on the slope - they can all be stored on the summit. Likewise, many small winches can do the work of a single mega-winch. Finally, relying on Tesla tech as the central point...
...of comparrison comes across as shilling, even if that's not the intent.
In any event, the article eventually gets around to accurately penciling out the advantages of pumped hydo, but I'm not sure many readers will have the patience to make it that far. It's a shame: the author has probably wasted a lot of effort that could have informed a wide audience had the tone been more approachable.