The Better World Regulatory Coalition Inc. (BWRCI) has announced the Vertical Stack Coalition, a standards-based framework designed to enable near-zero emissions infrastructure through vertical energy storage systems within urban areas. This initiative addresses fundamental constraints in modern energy systems where horizontal expansion is slowing, transmission corridors are saturated, and permitting timelines stretch into years while demand grows exponentially.
Vertical Stack reimagines energy infrastructure similarly to how skyscrapers transformed urban development, building upward within urban-compatible structural envelopes rather than expanding outward across thousands of acres. Each installation delivers multi-gigawatt-hour daily output with utility-scale dispatch characteristics while maintaining modular replication capabilities and compatibility with urban footprints. The architecture utilizes commercial molten salt batteries, which are considered near-zero emission during operational phases and have demonstrated global warming potential as low as 0.0306 kg CO2 eq/kWh in life-cycle assessments.
This chemistry offers significant safety advantages, as it does not exhibit lithium-style thermal runaway, does not rely on flammable solvent cascades, and does not propagate oxygen-fed combustion events. The system operates within contained thermal systems designed for physics rather than trend cycles. A critical aspect of the design is its American-sourceable nature, utilizing widely available industrial materials rather than depending on concentrated global supply chains like lithium-ion systems. This enables domestic manufacturing pathways, reduced geopolitical exposure, elimination of lithium bottlenecks, and alignment with U.S. industrial reshoring initiatives.
The architecture demonstrates compatibility with long-term institutional capital seeking resilient, domestically anchored energy infrastructure, including alignment with initiatives like the JPMorgan Chase Security and Resiliency Initiative. Unlike most energy projects that scale linearly, Vertical Stack scales geometrically through standardized structural envelopes, standardized module integration, and standardized dispatch logic. Construction timelines compress significantly compared to traditional builds because fabrication and site work occur simultaneously, with total project duration approximately 80–90% faster than traditional carbon steel or concrete versions after permits and foundations.
The system addresses solar energy challenges by enabling cities to absorb midday oversupply as stored urban capacity rather than exporting excess through congested transmission corridors. This enables higher solar penetration without new land expansion, reduced curtailment, local load balancing, municipal energy capture, and campus-level resilience. The architecture is also electrically compatible with modular nuclear generation, allowing one modular reactor to pair cleanly with a single high-density storage installation to improve economics and stability.
Grid resilience represents another critical capability, as Vertical Stack installations can support islanded operation, controlled ramp sequencing, stabilized frequency support, dispatch-managed re-energization, and microgrid restoration through appropriate inverter and switching design. This urban BlackStart capability provides essential sovereignty during grid disruptions. The initiative fundamentally shifts ownership models, enabling municipal ownership, community ownership, utility partnerships, corporate microgrid sovereignty, defense installation continuity, and industrial campus independence rather than simply providing backup power.
The platform represents a replicable, standardized, financeable, insurable, utility-compatible, nuclear-compatible, non-lithium, urban-compatible, and BlackStart-capable system designed not merely to store energy but to restore, densify, and localize it. BWRCI is actively engaging municipal utilities, independent power producers, modular nuclear developers, data center operators, industrial campus planners, defense infrastructure stakeholders, and institutional capital partners through the initiative. More information about the coalition and its framework is available at https://verticalstack.energy.
