Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal

Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal


Wind power has made incredible inroads into the U.S. energy system thanks to big, efficient machines standing hundreds of feet tall. But the future of wind power may be underground.

In the abandoned mines and sandstones of the Midwest, compressed-air storage ventures are trying to convert the intermittent motions of the air into the kind of steady power that could displace coal.

Compressed-air energy storage plants use compressors to store electricity generated when it’s not needed. The air, pumped into large underground formations, is like a spring that’s been squeezed and when it’s needed, it can deliver a large percentage of the energy that it received.

The first and only such plant in the United States went online in 1991, and though the technology didn’t take off, it did prove that it worked. And now, combining cheap wind energy and compressed-air storage could create a potent new force in the electricity markets.

“This is the first nonhydro renewables technology that can replace coal in the dispatch order,” said David Marcus, co-founder of General Compression, a new company that received $16 million in funding from investors including the utility Duke Energy to build a full-scale prototype of their energy storage system, which would be deployed with arrays of wind turbines.



Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/compressed-air-plants/#ixzz0hnvhDovY

is a tin of baked beans , an empty beer bottle and off you go.

could be a limitless supply -- just hold a bottle up to one ear, cap it, and repeat ad infinitum...

This is a general energy storage technology. This can be used with any intermittent source, including solar.

The article gives the example of it being used with a coal plant which had a large differential in daytime and nighttime demand.

Effeciencies are way worse than, say batteries or elctrolysis or even water storage. The only advantage is that it is cheap.

I'm not disputing you as far as efficiency since I really don't know enough about it, but this is not the first time I've heard of this concept and there are apparently some experts who think it's worthwhile (granted, they could be mistaken).

Beyond the fixed costs of erecting and maintaining turbines, wind is essentially free. So it may be that the loss of efficiency isn't that big a deal. It may be that the increase in efficiency that could come from the use of batteries or electrolysis may not be worth the extra cost.

because they aren't cheap.

K & R the OP!

Concentrated Thermal Solar Power with storage can do 24/7 operation even with several days of clouds.