Turning skyscrapers into giant ‘gravity batteries’ could cut power bills

Skyscrapers could be turned into ‘giant batteries’ and used to store renewable energy—all with the power of gravity.

That’s the idea behind Lift Energy Storage Technology (LEST), a theoretical power concept proposed by scientists in a new study.

This would see lifts in tall buildings used to ferry energy storage containers up and down, using the power of gravity to generate and store new power.

Robots would load heavy weights into lifts when there is low energy demand and store them at the top of buildings. When energy usage rises, the weights would be added to the lifts again and lowered back down to generate more power.

The scientists say there are at least 18 million lifts around the world and most of the time they aren’t doing anything useful.

Researchers believe that the ‘LEST’ system would use lifts to help the power grid, but that the proposal needs more research and improvements in order to make it viable.

The only catch is that the weights would have to be stored at both the top and the bottom of the building, possibly in people’s apartments.

This could help companies like Tesla store energy for charging electric vehicles and make energy more affordable in cities.

Behnam Zakeri, one of the scientists behind the research, said: “Environmentally friendly and flexible storage technologies like Lest are set to become more and more valuable to society in a future where a large share of its electricity comes from renewables.”

This isn’t the only novel renewable energy idea being proposed right now. A team of researchers in Bristol have developed a new fuel cell which can convert human pee into electricity. They hope to use this in the bricks of houses to help entire households turn on their lights using urine.

Dr Ieropoulos, who helped lead the project, told the Daily Star: “It uses the same household wastewater which is produced on a daily basis. Right now, it ends up going down the drain and has to be treated by a water company. But we’re doing treatment on-site and it results in really useful amounts of electricity.”