[Curmudgicus]

This is worth a look. I've posted two websites about it below.

Nasa put out a paper recently on TACAS technology that uses a combination of a high speed flywheel and compressed air to store mechanical energy that is converted to electricity when a load is placed on it. It provides equivalent storage to high-efficiency batteries without the sensitivity to temperature, the relatively short life span, or the environmental problems posed by battery disposal.

Being in its infancy, the current system that is available is expensive at and has a fairly large footprint. With development, that could change. Until we get "plasma ball" storage, batteries are going to remain limited in their capabilities. It's encouraging to see some ingenuity being applied to alternatives.

http://www.nasatech.com/Briefs/Dec04/ACT12368.html
http://www.activepower.com/index.asp?pg ... cas_basics

[Caoimhan]

These may be useful for smoothing the power production on wind generators... making wind power more reliable (less variable).