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One possibility being investigated by Siemens is thermal stone storage. Basically you dig up a gigantic hole in the ground, line it with insulation, put the di
by olau 11y ago
One possibility being investigated by Siemens is thermal stone storage.
Basically you dig up a gigantic hole in the ground, line it with insulation, put the dirt back in and send hot air through it (500-600 C). Then when you need the power, you connect a turbine to it and can use the heat to drive it.
I'm glossing over some details, but that's the basic operation. Last thing I heard about it they were going to build a demonstration project in Germany.
- jacquesm 11y agoYou can use a similar thermal mass trick under a house if you're looking to balance day/night energy consumption. This can have a very large impact on your bills, payback times are on the order of about a decade, much shorter than the projected lifetime of a house.
- mikeash 11y agoThis sounds horribly inefficient.