First thought: No.
From the New York Post, August 8:
The cities of the future may take the charge in progress for a very unexpected reason — with skylines doubling as massive energy storage units.
And the idea? Not solar panels and wind turbines — think giant battery blocks lifted to the heavens and dropped back down to keep the lights on.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the architectural firm behind iconic structures such as the Burj Khalifa and One World Trade, has teamed up with Energy Vault to make this sci-fi concept a reality.
“Here’s an opportunity to take this expertise … and use it for energy storage, enabling us to wean ourselves [off] fossil fuels,” Bill Baker, who helped engineer the Burj Khalifa, told CNN.
To spell it out, imagine a skyscraper where a motor hoists enormous blocks into the air when electricity demand is low, storing potential energy. When the city’s energy needs spike, the blocks descend, converting that energy back into electricity....
....MUCH MORE
