[masklinn]

> I was thinking what if we used buildings built on jacks as our source of mass.

Then you've got no height. Plus buildings are not dense so it's a pain in the ass, and when (not if) the jacks fail you're out a building.

[jacobolus]

It’s amusing to think of whole houses getting jacked 100 ft into the air on giant stilts during the middle of the day when solar panels are operating, then slowly dropping to release the stored energy in the evening/morning.

[yongjik]

I don't know how much a typical house weighs, but assuming 100t, raising it by 30m will give you potential energy of ... 8.2 kWh, or about $1.6 in today's electricity rate.

Gravity is weak.

[jacobolus]

I was estimating based on a 200-ton house, 30 kWh/day electricity use, and a need to store up to half of daily energy at any one time.

[wott]

:-) Perfect for quarantine.