the.com/gravity storage
batteries are so 2020 — now we just lift heavy things and let gravity pay us back later.
means a way to store energy by using surplus electricity to raise a heavy mass, then generating power as it falls or descends.
from scaled up from the century-old idea behind pumped hydro, where water gets pumped uphill when power is cheap and released downhill when it is not — engineers just swapped water for concrete blocks, sand, and old mineshafts.
efficiencyround-trip efficiency rivals lithium batteries, around 80-90 percent
lifespanblocks and cranes last decades longer than chemical cells
disused minessome projects reuse old mine shafts as ready-made shafts
no rare metalsneeds no lithium, cobalt, or exotic supply chains