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Nevada Startup Stores Energy With Trains (fortune.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the railroad-to-nowhere dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Nevada's Bureau of Land Management has granted a land lease to a $55 million project by Advanced Rail Energy Storage, which "proposes to use excess off-peak energy to push a heavily-loaded train up a grade," according to Fortune. "Then, when the grid needs that energy back, the cars will be rolled back down the slope...that return trip will generate energy and put it back on the grid."

The company claims its solution is about 50% cheaper than other storage technologies, according to Fortune, and boasts an 80% efficency in energy reclamation, "similar to or slightly above typical hydro-storage efficiency." Citing Tesla's factory, the magazine callsthe project "further evidence for Nevadaâ(TM)s emergence as a leading region for innovative transportation and energy projects."

8 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. Cliches by pr0t0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can see this project going off the rails.

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    I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
  2. train name submission by turkeydance · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sisyphus

    1. Re:train name submission by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Trainy McTrainyface

  3. Sisyphus by Space · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should call it project Sisyphus.

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    I Don't Work Here
  4. Re:Mechanical storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    There are some very interesting things going on with storing mechanical energy using Flywheels. It isn't quite the same concept but takes a lot less space than moving a large train uphill.

    There are some very interesting things going on with solar power as well, but apparently humans simply love shoving, swinging, or spinning insanely heavy shit around as an alternative.

  5. Re:When I was a kid... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're talking about Finland, then you're talking about Summer. What now, make up your mind, either you're in Finland or you have a Summer!

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Re:When I was a kid... by Z00L00K · · Score: 4, Funny

    Finland has two major seasons, six months of skiing and six months of mosquitoes.

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    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  7. Re:Innovation in Nevada by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Better part is maybe NIMBYS will stayl put, and not ruin places, like Colorado.

    So you don't want NIMBYs in your backyard?