Each month we like to tell you about something that’s new to us in the world of renewable energy, and this month we were interested to hear about the potential for compressing wind into porous underground rocks and storing it for renewable energy.
It may sound far-fetched, but a laboratory in the USA believes it is possible – even providing enough energy, it says, for 85,000 houses. While some of the strongest winds are produced at night (when energy demand is at its lowest), ‘compressed air storage plants’ could be used to push air into an underground ‘geological storage structure’. Then, when power demand is high during the day, the air would be released back up to the surface, heated and then rushed through turbines to generate electricity.
This technology is some way off being ready and it also needs to be sited in exactly the right geographical location. However, the development of new technologies like this fascinates us here at SunGift as we always try to keep abreast of the newest renewable energy advancements.
Read more about the technology behind compressed air storage plants (http://goo.gl/gN2Yo)
