As the world continues to grapple with the challenges of climate change, renewable energy has become the holy grail of solutions. Among the many options, pumped hydro storage (PHS) has emerged as a favorite among politicians, investors, and environmentalists alike. But beneath the surface of its touted benefits lies a disturbing truth: PHS is a water-wasting behemoth that’s more than 90% inefficient.
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For those who may not be familiar, PHS works like this: excess energy generated by solar or wind power is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. When the grid needs power, the water is released back down, driving turbines to generate electricity. Sounds like a brilliant solution, right? Well, not quite. The problem is that the amount of energy used to pump the water is staggering, considering the relatively small amount of electricity it produces.
According to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the average efficiency of PHS systems worldwide is around 36%. That means that for every unit of electricity generated, three units of energy are wasted in the form of water pumping. To put that in perspective, if every household in the United States used PHS to store their renewable energy, we’d be pumping enough water to fill over 200,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day – only to waste about 64% of it.
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This might come as a shock to those who’ve been championing PHS as the answer to our renewable energy prayers. After all, who wouldn’t want to store excess energy in a giant water tank and then release it back into the grid when needed? But the reality is that PHS is not a silver bullet. In fact, it’s more like a silver-decorated water balloon that’s ready to pop.
So, what’s the alternative? For starters, there are other forms of energy storage, like batteries, that are more efficient and scalable. Additionally, innovative technologies like compressed air energy storage (CAES) and hydrogen fuel cells show great promise, albeit with their own set of challenges.
It’s time to rethink our approach to renewable energy and energy storage. We need to be transparent about the limitations of PHS and explore more efficient solutions that don’t waste precious water resources. The future of our planet is at stake, and we can’t afford to keep chasing the myth of PHS as a panacea for our energy woes.
