In terms of hydro power, that translates into greater volumes of water, or of greater head, heighth of the column of water. I have seen numbers relating acre feet of water vs head heighth to MWH of energy stored. The numbers are huge, generally in terms of volume since available head heighth is usually limited to at most a few hundred feet and dictated by the site. As best I remember, the volumes of water required to produce a MWH of energy are in the millions of tons. Granted, the numbers I'm thinking of relate to large hydro projects, but still, the numbers are very large.
I'm thinking storage on the scale of single wind turbines would still involve either relatively great heights or relatively large volumes of water. If there is any merit to my speculation, a big if, then I would wonder about the relative economics of individual turbine scale storage vs larger scale storage. Again, I don't know any of that for a fact, just guessing. I would be glad to hear from anyone who has better information. Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
why mess with water when any weight will do, and some are so much denser?
anyone remeber those cuckoo clcks where you pulle a chain to raise a weight, and then it slowly ran down, powering the clock?
having said that, i do think that many of our best initiatives will be to encourage swamps, estuaries, marshlands, bayous and fens, because per acre these support the most fauna, much of it edible.
i aslso believe we will make water a much bigger feature of planned landscapes, for its aesthetic and therapeutic value, as much as for storage.
so much rainwater rubs off uncaught, leading to such absurd scenarios as rainy england suffering intense water shortage.
for terraforming, grey water purification, and aquaculture/greenhouse combos, expect to see much heightened consciousness of water, its preciousnessness and its balancing qualities on many levels.
aquarius - the water-bearer...
can we imagine if a tiny portion of the 8 billion$ a month poured into the black hole of baghdad were redirected into battery research?
instead of 'assault-and-battery'? ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
People are exploring spinning flywheels and battery systems though.
Indeed. Talk about opportunity cost... Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
