Upgrading the Electric Grid With Flywheels and Air

The modern electric grid is getting some help from some admittedly old-fashioned technology.

Flywheels and compressed air don't sound as sexy as wind turbines and solar cells, but the latter probably won't go mainstream without the former.

"The growth of renewables has posed a problem," said Imre Gyuk, program manager for energy storage research at the United States Department of Energy (DOE). "It used to be that the load [demand on the electric grid] was unpredictable, and generation would try to follow it." As wind and solar installations proliferate, supply also has become unpredictable.

Read more at: National Geographic