We all know about windmills and their ability to generate electricity. Wind blows over over blades which then turn a generator, sending the resulting electricity either directly into power lines or capturing the current in a battery grid. Major wind farms across the world work in this fashion, having become the accepted way to use the power generated from windmills.
That is, until now.
Enter the Iowa Stored Energy Park, which will feature the next generation of power usage from the wind.
The park is funded by more than 100 municipal utility companies in and around the state of Iowa as well as the federal government. As the wind turbine blades spin, the power activates air compressor pumps. These pumps send compressed air deep underground to hollow and airtight caverns, and this compressed air can be heated and released to turn electric turbines either as a supplement for peak usage or to power independent electrical grids. In effect, the storage of wind power in this way becomes a compressed air battery.
That the compressed air must be heated to be a viable source of power has been the largest drawback when using this technology. To this point, natural gas has been burned to supply that heat, which in reality only makes compressed air storage about 50 percent efficient.
Enter the minds of General Electric. When air is compressed it automatically generates heat during the compression stage. Either bedrock or ceramic bricks could store this heat deep underground, and when the original compressed air is released it will be naturally heated in this way and become instantly available to power a turbine generator. It’s called the advanced adiabatic system, and pioneered by GE.
Needless to say, the system is about as clean and green as anything out there and Mother Nature herself has already proven the viability of geological storage by keeping oil and natural gas locked up tight beneath the ground for eons.
Additionally, finding the correct geological area as well as building and maintaining the wind park and the variable components will open up new and continuous employment opportunities, which is another bonus of this program.
Although this sounds like it is some far reaching technology that may not be available for, possibly, decades, the truth is that the Iowa Stored Energy Park is slated to begin producing electricity in the year 2011. This deadline proves this is no pipe dream, but rather a genuine technique that is usable in the very near future.
This is just one more way that technology is able to harness the natural and 100 percent sustainable, yet non-polluting, forces of our planet, opening up jobs and possibilities for growth in an industry which knows no boundaries.
Source: BecauseAction.com
