Green Think

Spinning flywheels may be one of the solutions to a green-energy problem: How to temporarily but efficiently store energy while the sun is shining or the wind is blowing to meet demand when these green sources aren't as active.

As explained in this Associated Press article, flywheels are an old idea that has been re-thought on massive scale.

A Massachusetts company, Beacon Power, has received federal loan guarantees to build a 20-megawatt flywheel plant in Stephentown, N.Y., which is west of Albany near the N.Y./Mass. line.

Would Edison be spinning in his grave? No, he knew the value of flywheels and used them in some of his inventions. It's great to see today's innovators reaching from the past into the future.