"Our system is a highly reversible, gas cycle machine that works as both an engine and a heat pump. It is the first time that a reversible system has been developed both to store and recover electricity using a thermodynamic approach.
"The received wisdom is that thermodynamic devices are not very reversible, but that certain thermodynamic processes in isolation can be highly reversible. This led to the direct incorporation of heat exchange to a storage medium within the gas circuit of our heat engine. The key innovation is the reduction to four highly reversible processes within the cycle with integrated heat exchange to the storage medium."
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"Could the world be approaching peak coal production?
"It sounds unlikely, given that demand for the black stuff has surged in the past decade. But Beijing is planning to ban coal burning in its six central districts from 2020. If energy-hungry China backs away from coal, the demise of the world's dirtiest fuel may be at hand.
"The Beijing plan was announced on Monday by the city's Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection. It is no pipedream. The first of four big coal-fired power stations, Gaojing, shut last month. The city plans to turn off the rest by the end of 2016, but two will be kept functional but mothballed for emergencies."
