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From the article:

From Europe to North America, an energy revolution is breathing new life into empty, long-forgotten coal mine shafts — by repurposing them into places to store renewable energy. Using “gravity batteries,” these underground facilities aim to tackle one of renewable energy’s greatest challenges: storage. The method is simple: Excess renewable energy is used to power winches that lift heavy weights — such as containers filled with sand or rock — up the mine shaft. When additional energy is needed, these weights are released, generating power as they descend. This approach not only gives these disused mines a second life but also offers economic and environmental benefits to communities once reliant on coal. Hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines — about 550,000 in the U.S. alone — pose economic, environmental and safety risks. In some areas, these old shafts have caused collapses or polluted groundwater, while in others, the loss of mining jobs has hit local economies hard. Meanwhile, as renewable energy scales up, storage limitations become a pressing issue, especially with solar and wind, which are naturally intermittent. This year, solar is expected to surpass coal as a leading global power source, according to the International Energy Agency, highlighting the need for reliable storage to balance supply and demand. During the U.K.’s 2020 lockdown, for example, National Grid warned of potential blackouts when energy demand dropped by 20 percent, leading to excess renewable power that went unused.

Gravity batteries offer a straightforward but powerful — and cost-effective — way to address both of these problems at once. Their potential is already being realized. In Rudong, near Shanghai, the first commercial grid-scale gravity battery was connected to the grid in December 2023. Capable of storing up to 100 megawatt hours of energy, it can power nine homes for an entire year using only stored electricity. Across China, nine additional projects are in development, while in Switzerland, a commercial demonstration unit has been connected to the national grid for testing since 2019, showcasing the technology’s promise on a global scale. And now, other countries, from Finland to Australia, are getting on board.

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Old white dude goes to the government hearing to speak in favor of a anti-trans bill…

By the time he gets to the mic, he says his “eyes have been opened” and speaks against hate!!

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HECK YEAH!!! PRAISE THE LORD FOR THIS WONDERFUL NEWS!

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Redraw of a concept image of toothless that was never used, but with my night fury oc, Ghostwaker.

Technically as a participation for the nightfuryslapbraceletchallenge.

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I feel a bit better now

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I have a lot of emotions right now

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Help I'm a Data Hoarder

It's not my fault that files can't be sorted by weight via shaking them through a colander or whatever

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Chloé Zhao, who just won an Oscar for best director, writes fanfiction.

That's the kind of validation I needed in my life. Thank you, ma'am.

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Congrats to Costco workers on a wage increase! Minimum starting wage is $20 too.

And a friendly reminder that Costco has publicly reinforced their commitment to DEI hiring practices, and are a great alternative to places that are currently being boycotted for rolling over for fascism.

If you don't have the means for a membership, I know there are folks who are happy to bring you along on their shopping trips, check local buy nothing groups or other community resources. As someone who doesn't need bulk sizing necessarily, I am also always happy to split my Costco purchases with family and friends so nothing goes to waste.

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Going into production soon and starting small but yeah! Fossil free steel! Let’s go!

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As a lover of fashion and textiles, the clothing waste problem really gets under my skin. While a lot of things still need to change, steps are being taken to remedy this problem!

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Did you know sustainable energy powered the Super Bowl? It did

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Hey all, thanks so much to everyone who has been checking out this new venture I've started here.

I've been phonebanking with the Wisconsin dems to help get out the word for Susan Crawford, a candidate for Wisconsin's supreme court. Her opponent in the race is a far right guy who is being bankrolled by Musk, and this race will help determine voting and healthcare rights, amongst other important issues in Wisconsin.

The people I've met phonebanking are from all walks of life and very lovely to chat with, it's honestly been a helpful experience amid all the worry. You can phonebank from anywhere, and they have several different weekday and weekend shifts that you can do as often as you like. The process is easy, and for the most part, the folks I've called have been cordial even if they didn't want to chat with me or held differing opinions. If you wanna take an action, I recommend this one!

The election is April 1, which is really coming up, so whatever you want to do to help, now is the time!

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stupidass shit made right before a storm took out my power. divine intervention possibly

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HOLY SHIT SOMEONE ELSE WHO REMEMBERS WOLVES OF THE MIST....god that show KICKED ABSOLUTE ASS for something made mostly by. ONE PERSON. my god. sad to hear it's been taken off the internet by the creator aahhhh

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!! And you are 100% RIGHT, It KICKS ABSOLUTE ASS!!!!! I'd even dare say it's one of if not probably THE BEST 2010's Wolf-Indie-animated series out there, I can't get enough of it. And just like everything else I can't get enough of, I go down massive rabbit holes and boy oh boy you are not going to BELIEVE what I found!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't the creator's intention to delete the series, It was taken down by a FALSE COPYRIGHT CLAIM, here's a post from the creator herself like holy shit????!!!!!!!!!! Still, it's a damn shame that it's been years and parts 2 and 3 are still not on Youtube in high quality, but there is this reconstruction on Archive.Org. Thirdly, Something that absolutely blows my mind, the creator had MULTIPLE Websites in which she posted updates, art, and character/worldbuilding lore. Judging by what's written here, she must have mad BATSHIT CRAZY plans for the series had it gone forward and my heart aches that all the sites were in HTML so almost no images got saved on the Wayback machine.