Inclined to Innovate: Old Mines Inspire a New Energy Landscape

By Cyndi Perkins*
Posted in 2023 Tech Magazine
Reprinted here in part with permission.

Michigan Tech professors Roman Sidortsov, left, and Tim Scarlett on Quincy Hill. The two colleagues in the Department of Social Sciences are leading a research team in an initiative called PUSH -- pumped underground storage hydropower, or using hydropower to store energy in old hard-metal mines. Michigan Tech's PUSH research was presented at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference. (Photo © Alok Shelar / Michigan Technological University)

Upper Peninsula mining established Michigan Tech -- and the boom days' remains, from mine tailings to abandoned shafts, are sparking world-changing energy-transition breakthroughs at the University. One idea that's attracting national headlines and international collaboration? Using hydropower to store energy in old hard-metal mines.

Some people get their best ideas in the shower. Or while they're driving. Or working out. Energy policy expert Roman Sidortsov got one of his on an uphill run through an iconic Keweenaw copper mine site. His aha! moment came on Quincy Hill, home to Old Reliable, the mine nicknamed for the steady dividends it paid to investors from 1864 to 1920, and led to an initiative called PUSH: pumped underground storage hydropower.

"The idea popped into my head when I was running with my dog," Sidortsov said. "I was huffing and puffing on that steep, steep trail, and looking at the hoist and the railway track thinking, 'There's quite a bit of elevation there.' This idea came: How would you utilize this elevation, and how would you do that inside a mine? What would it look like?" 

Roman Sidortsov with his "inspiration dog" Archie on Quincy Hill. The Quincy Mine Hoist is in the background. (Photo © Alok Shelar / Michigan Technological University)

"This is a rare moment in time where communities can choose to leverage their liabilities as assets."

--Timothy Scarlett, PUSH team member and industrial archaeology expert

Sidortsov shared the idea with Michigan Tech colleagues, including fellow Department of Social Sciences faculty member Timothy Scarlett. He asked Scarlett, an expert in industrial heritage and archaeology who has studied the Keweenaw mining region for years, "Why doesn't anyone in the UP use hydropower?"

View of the Portage Lift Bridge connecting Hancock and Houghton from the railway track at the Quincy Mine site. (Photo © Alok Shelar / Michigan Technological University)

To put a twist on the adage, the rest isn't history. It's the story of how our past can power the future. Sidortsov assembled a research team of scientists and engineers who proved it's feasible to store energy in old hard-metal mines, transforming them into cost-effective, income-generating community resources. The initiative, developed by Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Energy Transition Lab (KETL), is a novel closed-loop underground system that provides an elegant solution to address the global energy crisis on several fronts, from affordability and environmental cleanup to cultural respect and energy justice for post-mining communities. ...

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article and learn more about this PUSH research project at Michigan Tech, its team members and funding source, and to watch YouTube videos on the PUSH research and its potential to help local communities.

* Cyndi Perkins, author of this article, is a Senior Content Specialist for Michigan Tech University Marketing and Communications.