The Brick Battery

The Australian Snowy 2 hydro scheme plans to use electricity to pump water up hill to get some of that energy back by running the water downhill again. All to make intermittent green energy look sensible. Some green-tinged Australian mining companies are planning a dry version of Snowy 2 - a huge brick-powered battery using the force of gravity to drive a generator when solar and wind energy are on strike. Each unit of this brick-powered battery would comprise a 30 storey tower enclosing a 35 tonne brick which is hauled up using surplus renewable energy (around noon on any clear windy day) and then released to turn generators when there is no renewable energy being produced (every still night or calm cloudy day).