Nevada Startup Stores Energy With Trains (fortune.com)

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."

Comments

Innovation in Nevada

[sjbe]

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."

And the existence of Las Vegas is evidence for Nevada as a leading region for innovations in ways to needlessly waste energy and resources.

Re:Innovation in Nevada

[Anonymous Coward]

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

So you don't want NIMBYs in your backyard?

Cliches

[pr0t0]

I can see this project going off the rails.

train name submission

[turkeydance]

Sisyphus

Re:train name submission

[Anonymous Coward]

Trainy McTrainyface

Re:Necessity vs invention

[JoeMerchant]

One of the original natural resources of Phoenix was pollen free air - invaluable for people with allergies. Ironically, the successful development of Phoenix, largely based on this resource, has destroyed the resource just as surely as a coal mining town mines out a seam - get enough people in a city and they're sure to plant grass and flowers in their yards.

Re:When I was a kid...

[Anonymous Coward]

Its not completely idiotic, in fact I think they do something similar in Japan. Some buildings have concrete storage boxes burred underground where during winter snow is dumped. When summer rolls around the snow is used to cool the building for a few months out of the summer until the snow melts. It doesn't completely cover the cooling requirements but it does take a big bite out of it and it also gives them a place to shove some of their snow that's out of the way.

Re: why

[easyTree]

Sisyphean Railways

800giga joules per train = 1 las vegas minute.

[goombah99]

Let's see now.
suppose they have oversized axles so we'll estimate 200 metric tonnes per car, then a 2000 meter mountain difference, and 100 cars long. we'll round g off to 10.

E= mgh = 200*200E3*2000*10 = 800E9

If they could release that in 1 hour then they could have 200 megawattHr

I found an old estimate that by 2015 Las vegas would need 10,000 megawatts of power on a summer day. Thus 50 trains could power it for an hour.

Or roughtly speaking 1 train would power las vegas for 1 minute

Re:why

[Pig Hogger]

why didn't I think of this????

Because it’s been done before. The Virginian railroad used to haul coal down the hills of Virginia; it was electrified, and the engines used regenerative braking. When they slowed down, the electric motors turned into generators and sent back power through the wire. When one fully-loaded train was going downhill, it provided enough power to get two unloaded trains up the hill; the net energy consumption was pretty negligible