The project foregrounds the need to promote renewable energy production in the United States and specifically proposes to utilize abandoned underground coal mining sites for hydro-pump electricity storage in Greene County, Pennsylvania.

The water collected in the subterranean caverns comprises a form of embedded energy that can be easily harnessed by using time-honored methods of hydroelectric power generation. During the night, when energy consumption is generally low, the water is pumped into surface lakes and then channeled through turbines to produce electricity during daytime peak consumption hours. Water is basically recirculated in endless loops from reservoirs below ground to lakes above ground, taking advantage of the altitude differential to produce clean energy.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

Kenya Endo won the “Next Generation” 2nd prize for “Machine Landscape: Coal mining sites for hydro-pump electricity storage, Greene County, PA, USA”. The project promotes renewable energy production utilizing abandoned underground coal mining sites for hydro-pump electricity storage.$

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The winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for North America are at the cutting edge of efficiency and innovation in sustainable construction. The top prize went to a water supply and flood mitigation project in Las Vegas designed by Amy Mielke and Caitlin Taylor. BIG’s urban flood-protection concept for lower Manhattan was conferred the silver Award, and a zero-carbon compostable structure recently on display at MoMA New York designed by David Benjamin received bronze.

Notwithstanding the simplicity and ingenuity of the proposed technology, the submitted project recognizes its design potential, particularly its implications for landscape planning. The jury highly applauded the idea to combine abandoned infrastructure, energy production, and spatial design into a “machine” that is both useful and beautiful, one that performs a much needed function, one that is inherently sustainable, one that reuses and recycles deserted sites, and one that ultimately touches the senses.

The project foregrounds the need to promote renewable energy production in the United States and specifically proposes to utilize abandoned underground coal mining sites for hydro-pump electricity storage in Greene County, Pennsylvania. The water collected in the subterranean caverns comprises a form of embedded energy that can be easily harnessed by using time-honored methods of hydroelectric power generation.