4 ms·

The deeper you dig, the heavier your cable is, and the more energy you waste on accelerating that cable. And the much bigger issue is, you have to constantly p

The deeper you dig, the heavier your cable is, and the more energy you waste on accelerating that cable. And the much bigger issue is, you have to constantly pump out water that will inevitably fill the hole. And that only costs you money.

jungturk 6y ago
But the water leaking in is a feature, not a bug! You run pumps during surplus periods and generate hydroelectric in demand periods as the tunnel floods.
- bufferoverflow 6y ago
  No, it's not a feature. It's a massive problem. 1) Pumps that can pump water 150 meters or a kilometer high are very expensive and require constant expensive maintenance. 2) Where will you pump the water to? Now you have to build huge storage tanks. 3) The water never stops flowing in. Sooner or later you will run out of storage space and your expensive hole will fill up with water.
  - Ma8ee 6y ago
    Maybe pump the water to the nearest river? As long as you aren’t digging from the lowest point in the landscape it won’t be a problem to get rid of the water.
gameswithgo 6y ago
seems the water could be a secondary energy source, and the cable energy wouldn’t be wasted, thats just more mass to lift and drop.
- eloff 6y ago
  Do tell how you generate energy from water at the bottom of a gravity well.
  - syllable_studio 6y ago
    Tidal Power? Though the ocean is not strictly at the bottom of the gravity well. And I assume that's not really what you're asking.
    - eloff 6y ago
      That's from an external system, and won't work in the bottom of a hole. There is no way, short of fusion that I know of. And fusion is not a valid answer in this context anyway (even if we had the tech for it).
syllable_studio 6y ago
Yeah, my startup, Terrament solves the heavy cable problem by using modules which each contain a motor/generator and they each support their own weight. This allows us to truly maximize height and weight per shaft volume. You can see my other comments for context. (https://www.terramenthq.com/ https://www.terramenthq.com/)

jungturk 6y ago

But the water leaking in is a feature, not a bug! You run pumps during surplus periods and generate hydroelectric in demand periods as the tunnel floods.

bufferoverflow 6y ago
No, it's not a feature. It's a massive problem. 1) Pumps that can pump water 150 meters or a kilometer high are very expensive and require constant expensive maintenance. 2) Where will you pump the water to? Now you have to build huge storage tanks. 3) The water never stops flowing in. Sooner or later you will run out of storage space and your expensive hole will fill up with water.
- Ma8ee 6y ago
  Maybe pump the water to the nearest river? As long as you aren’t digging from the lowest point in the landscape it won’t be a problem to get rid of the water.

gameswithgo 6y ago

seems the water could be a secondary energy source, and the cable energy wouldn’t be wasted, thats just more mass to lift and drop.

eloff 6y ago
Do tell how you generate energy from water at the bottom of a gravity well.
- syllable_studio 6y ago
  Tidal Power? Though the ocean is not strictly at the bottom of the gravity well. And I assume that's not really what you're asking.
  - eloff 6y ago
    That's from an external system, and won't work in the bottom of a hole. There is no way, short of fusion that I know of. And fusion is not a valid answer in this context anyway (even if we had the tech for it).

syllable_studio 6y ago

Yeah, my startup, Terrament solves the heavy cable problem by using modules which each contain a motor/generator and they each support their own weight. This allows us to truly maximize height and weight per shaft volume. You can see my other comments for context. (https://www.terramenthq.com/ https://www.terramenthq.com/)