But in the end, fossil fuels will ultimately cost us more. Indeed, our addiction to fossil fuels has already resulted in air pollution, rising atmospheric temperatures, contaminated landscapes and even damaged human health.Switzerland-based Energy Vault is one of the companies developing prototype gravity energy storage solutions that could someday replace batteries as a way to hold onto energy for use on days when intermittent renewables (solar, wind) aren’t cutting it in a post-fossil-fuel world.
Gravity energy storage, whereby engineers harness the energy in gravitational forces by connecting the momentum generated to the electric grid, is a relatively new technology that could serve to revolutionize energy storage given its low carbon footprint and engineering simplicity. Pilot programs to test the technology and bring it to scale are already underway in Switzerland, Scotland and the United States. Environmentalists are bullish about the technology as a way to bolster energy reserves beyond intermittent clean energy sources like solar and wind, and to have a better way to store energy than in costly and environmentally problematic lithium-ion batteries.
So far researchers have isolated two different techniques for harvesting gravity energy. One employs a tower to drop weights from above, harnessing the momentum generated by the gravitational force during the fall. Another uses mineshafts filled with water to float and drop weights. Both types of processes extract energy from electrical sensors attached to the weights generating momentum and pass it directly to the power grid. Typically, about 20 percent of the energy created during a concrete block’s fall is needed to power the weights back up to the top.
Unlike solar and wind power, gravity energy storage isn’t dependent on the sun to shine or the wind to blow for the generation of electricity. Herein lies the great green promise of this new technology since energy can be generated steadily but without the inevitability of polluOn HoustonChronicle.com: 19 Houston companies make Inc. 5000 regional list
Backed by Elysian Capital, a private equity firm based in London, Gravity Global has completed six acquisitions in the last two years and has another two deals in the works in the U.S. The agency expects to double in size this year from current levels of more than 250 people and $40 million in fees.
“We bring clients the scale, expertise, and geography of the largest B2B agencies with the entrepreneurial mindset and agility of an independent agency," Lozano said.
Sara Hoerner and Lisa Hillmer-Poole, who led the B2B specialty at 9thWonder, are taking leaderships positions with Gravity U.S., Lozano said.
“Since 2009 we’ve built Gravity through partnerships with like-minded agencies. Now we need our own offices with dedicated teams who follow our proprietary growth framework Fame-Admiration-Belief,” Mark Lethbridge, CEO of Gravity Global, said in a statement. “Our strategy is to assimilate agencies where we know our chemistry is right from working together on key accounts. We’ve known and worked with 9thWonder and Morsekode for several years.”
The acquisitions give Gravity Global offices in five major U.S. cities and deeper ties in the technology, energy, transportation, aerospace, financial services, industrial and healthcare industries. The firm has 14 offices worldwide.tion
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