energy generated by wind farms in the north sea could be stored using compressed air pumped into rocks - home energy storage
Seabirds near the British coast can soon be used to store energy.
Innovative ways to solve the thorny problem of energy storage have found that using compressed air can be the best solution.
If researchers are able to expand their ideas, it will allow the use of the surplus energy generated during the summer during the high winter demand period.
Video engineers and earth scientists at the University of Edinburgh use mathematical models to assess the potential of the compressed air energy storage process (CAES).
This method uses compressed air to store the energy generated at a certain point for use on a certain day.
CAES is described as a state-of-the-art technology that powers the motor that generates compressed air by using a power supply that can be powered.
This air will be stored at high pressure in large sandstone holes entering the Earth.
When there is a shortage of energy, such as the cold winter, pressurized air can be released from the well to power the turbine.
This will allow the generation of a large amount of energy that will be directly fed into the grid.
Experts say similar methods have been used at sites in Germany and the United States to store air in deep salt caves.
Using mathematical models and the North Sea geological structure database, the researchers concluded that porous rocks under water in the UK can store about 1-and-a-
Half of UK electricity demand in January and February.
The team says this approach can help provide stable and reliable energy supplies from renewable sources such as wind turbines and tidal turbines, as well as aidefforts, to limit global temperatures caused by climate change
Moving the well close to renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind turbines, will make the process more effective, cheaper and reduce the number of submarine cables needed, they added. Dr. Julian Murray
Castillo, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Earth Science, who led the study, said: "This method can store renewable energy produced in summer on several cold winter nights.
It can offer a viable option, although expensive, to ensure that the UK's renewable power supply is resilient between seasons.
More research can help improve processes and reduce costs.
The study was published in the journal Natural Energy.