Researchers have come up with an ingenious idea to tackle our renewable energy storage problems.
The Lift Energy Storage Technology (LEST) is a system that the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria suggests to use.
When demand for power is low, the idea is to have robots load heavy ballasts into existing elevators and store them at the top of the building. When energy usage goes up, the weights could be added back to the elevators and lowered back down, generating more power.
The scientists say that the LEST system could allow individual buildings to greatly lower their dependence on the central grid, while also allowing us to store more renewable energy in built up areas.
It is a simple idea that uses existing infrastructure.
The concept of LEST came to me after having spent a lot of time in a lift since moving into an apartment on the 14th floor.
There are a lot of details that need to be worked out before high rises can be turned into giant batteries. When the system is fully charged, the team has to figure out where the weights can be stored at the top of the building. There is an issue of spreading out the weight so that the ceilings don't collapse.
The team is optimistic despite the limitations.
The study says that LEST are set to become more and more valuable to society in a future where a large share of its electricity comes from renewable sources.
Power system regulators need to adopt strategies to encourage end users to share their distributed storage resources, such as LEST, with the central grid, according to Zakeri.
It's possible to turn high-rise buildings into batteries.
The electric train fully charges itself by rolling downhill with heavy load.
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