Skyscrapers Can Be Self-Powering Energy Producers Using Gravity

Installed in tall buildings, gravity energy storage systems built by Energy Vault could soon provide sustainable, renewable energy 24/7. Called G-Vaults, they generate power through the dropping of large stone or cement blocks 200 metres or more and using off-peak power to restore them to the top to be dropped again. Building at that height can offset the embodied carbon footprint of the materials used to make them in two to four years. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architectural firm that designed One World Trade Center and the Burj Khalifa has developed plans for a 1-kilometre (3,280 feet) self-powering tower that will house residential, retail and office space plus a giant G-Vault.