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Re:Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal Power by happenstance on Thursday March 11, 2010 @03:04PM (#1184739)
When you compress air, it heats up and expands -- thus making the pressure go up faster than one might expect. So, when storing it you lose a lot of energy as heat.

When you let it uncompress, it cools -- losing a lot of energy again.

Point is, you lose quite a bit of energy going both ways.

A good solution might be to combine wind and pumped hydro: have the wind turbine pump water to a higher elevation when extra wind is available.

Re:Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal Power by jessriedel on Thursday March 11, 2010 @05:50PM (#1185193)
That is definitely an interesting point, although I assume it was taken into account when companies and the government did their comparison with hydroelectric storage. Larger caverns should reduce the amount of energy lost due to heat.
Re:Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal Power by rwhitman on Thursday March 11, 2010 @04:48PM (#1185047)
Ok, I know this is going to sound really juvenile, but I clicked on this link thinking it was a joke about farts.
Re:Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal Power by philwelch on Thursday March 11, 2010 @05:46PM (#1185183)
HN isn't the type of place where you should share every thought that crosses your mind. If someone does submit a fart joke you should just flag it.
Re:Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal Power by rwhitman on Thursday March 11, 2010 @07:41PM (#1185447)
So no one sees the possibility of humor in a renewable energy technology called "Bottled Wind"?