GabyOne of the biggest challenges for an electricity grid dominated by clean energy is the intermittency of some renewable sources. Sometimes, when solar energy is needed, clouds roll in, or the wind dies down when wind energy is required.
Therefore, storage is of crucial importance. energy , on the development of forms that the smartest minds on the planet are currently battling over.
Skyscrapers of new purpose
Recently, the architectural and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), which designed the tallest skyscraper in the world – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (828 m), announced a partnership with Energy Vault, a company specializing in energy storage. The goal of this collaboration is to develop giant gravitational energy storage systems that will operate in skyscrapers with heights reaching up to a kilometer.
Partners have plans for a skyscraper project that will use a motor powered by grid electricity to lift giant blocks when energy demand is low. These blocks will store electricity as “potential” energy. When demand arises, the blocks will descend, releasing energy that will be converted into electricity, it is reported. CNN .
This method of energy storage will allow for a transition away from fossil fuels, noted Bill Baker, a consulting partner at SOM and the engineer behind the Burj Khalifa tower.
Net zero requires new storage options.
According to the International Energy Agency, if the world wants to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, it is essential to develop grid storage or grid-connected technologies that can store energy and use it when needed.
Lithium-ion batteries, which are popular in electric vehicles They cannot solve the problem on their own. Primarily because they are unable to store energy for an extended period.
However, this is within the capabilities of pumped hydro energy storage, which is already widely used for storing renewable energy. In this case, a turbine is needed to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir during off-peak hours. When demand suddenly increases, the water is released and flows through the turbine, generating electricity. But there is one “but”: such a system requires hilly terrain and a lot of space.
The above-ground tower from companies SOM and Energy Vault, which can reach heights of 300 to 1000 meters, will feature hollow structures resembling elevator shafts for moving blocks. At the same time, there will be space in the tower for residential and commercial areas. (The companies are also considering the possibility of integrating pumped hydro energy storage into skyscrapers, where water will be used instead of blocks).
Ultimately, it will be possible to store several gigawatt-hours of energy. This is enough to power several buildings, said Robert Piconi, CEO of Energy Vault.
By the way, Energy Vault recently created the world’s first commercial pumped hydrogravity energy storage system in China. The 150-meter tall building is designed solely for energy storage (not for living). The system has a capacity of 100 megawatt-hours.
The higher, the better?
New opportunities for using renewable energy will help offset the carbon footprint of high-rise buildings. Currently, the construction and building sector accounts for nearly 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
To solve this problem, buildings are equipped with the best insulation, alternative building materials with lower carbon content are used, and so on. Some structures are literally becoming greener. For example, Italian architect Stefano Boeri created towers in Milan covered with trees and shrubs, and developed a similar project for buildings in Dubai.
However, towers are becoming taller and more numerous. This situation is driven by the demand caused by hyper-urbanization, which forces people into cities where there is a lack of living space.
In the years 1900-1999, 235 buildings over 200 meters tall were constructed worldwide, while just last year, 179 skyscrapers of that height or taller were built on the planet.
