Compressing and Storing Wind Power
An article in the New York Times stated:
The technology [compressing and storing air] has been around for decades, though the only major plant in the United States opened in Alabama in 1991. Another plant was built in Germany in the 1970s. But compressed air storage is getting a fresh look because so many windmills have been built across the country in recent years, and energy producers are increasingly looking for ways to avoid building power plants that rely on expensive oil and natural gas.
Who knew? And this is supposed to be old hat? I hope it’s stored way down below because compressed air reminds me of the movie No Country for Old Men. That little tank of compressed air was mighty powerful to say the least.
I don’t know about this technology. There certainly are plenty of abandoned mines and old gas lines to use. Perhaps if the alternative energy industry ever gets fully loosed, we will see improvement upon improvement so that wind technology no longer involves huge, noisy turbines that don’t always produce energy. Look at mainframe computers of yesterday compared to the laptop of today. It’s a matter of getting started. Once the ball starts rolling, improvements are inevitable, especially for wind power, which increased five fold between 2000-2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/nyregion/26wind.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin.