Solutions for Industry
In the US, industry is responsible for 28% of CO2 emissions [1]. It relies heavily on natural gas, petroleum and electricity generated using fossil fuels. But most industrial processes cannot be shut down when the sun sets or the wind doesn't blow. Also, heavy plant must often run continuously for economic reasons due to the large investments involved. The intermittency, or variability, of renewable power sources such as wind and solar make decarbonizing industry a big challenge.

Reference:

[1] 'U.S. CO2 emissions from energy consumption by source and sector, 2022' (Accessed on 13th November, 2023) https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/energy-and-the-environme . . .
20%
Industrial heat makes up one-fifth of global energy consumption, mostly originating from fossil fuel combustion [1]. Due to increasing demand, the production of industrial heat is expected to account for one-quarter of global emissions by 2040.
  • Industrial heat is often generated on site, tailored to the industrial process' particular needs. Cement kilns require higher temperatures than washing and drying applications in the food industry. A heat-pump cannot replace a gas-boiler where high temperature heat is required.
  • Substituting gas for coal provides benefit but is inconsistent with reaching climate targets that require the world to become net-zero.
  • Proposed solutions include the electrification of thermal processes for heating solid materials, steam generation and fluid heating. Using clean hydrogen as a fuel is also applicable to all industrial thermal processes [2]. The advent of thermal batteries is also an exciting development that shows much promise.
  • Some decarbonisation may be realised by carbon capture of flue gases but this generally needs significant power input; in the end, not much benefit is gained unless the electricity is generated from renewables.

References:

[1] 'Clean and efficient heat for industry' (Accessed on 13th November, 2023) https://www.iea.org/commentaries/clean-and-efficient-heat-fo . . .
[2] 'Thermal Process Intensification: Transforming the Way Industry Uses Thermal Process Energy' (Accessed on 13th November, 2023) https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/TPI%20Wor . . .
2000oC 3600oF
A thermal battery developed by Antora Energy[1] stores heat over a temperature of
2000oC 3600oF
and can be used for heat-intensive production such as steel or concrete.
thermal battery
antoraenergy.com
  • This is really cool tech! Listen to the podcast! [2]. Details below.
  • Batteries will be heated when renewable electricity is cheap, or negatively priced. The stored heat can then displace natural gas boilers and other fossil fuel heat sources.
  • Each battery is, at its most basic, a rock in a box. The rock used is solid carbon, chosen because of its abundance, cost and its stability. Carbon has a special quality: it becomes better at storing energy as it gets hotter. It can store three times as much heat at
    800oC 1450oF
    as it can at room temperature. Graphite, a form of carbon, is used as electrodes in steel-making electric-arc furnaces because of its ability to withstand very high temperatures (up to
    3000oC 5400oF
    ). It also gets stronger as you heat it (up to
    2400oC 4300oF
    ).
  • An electrical resistive coil heats up the graphite until it up to its glowing white operating temperature of
    2000oC 3600oF
    . Graphite has high thermal conductivity so the heat moves readily from the resistive coil throughout the block and there are no concerns with inconsistent heating. (This property is also useful when retrieving the heat.)
  • Light is used to extract the energy from the battery. The light can be used to heat up fluid in a pipe or to create steam, which is what typical heat batteries do. Or the light can be shone on thermovoltaic panels (TPV) to generate electricity.
  • The battery has an insulated door that can be closed to turn off the battery or opened to harness the heat and light. Progressively opening the door compensates for the light that is slowly dimming as the battery system cools so that there is a consistent discharge.
  • The graphite is cooler than the sun but much closer to the photovoltaic panel; the light reaching the panel is hundreds of times brighter than the light emitted by the sun. The photovoltaics are water-cooled to deal with this.
  • With photovoltaics, not all photons are converted to electrons; they don't all have the right energy density. Most photons, in solar – and in Antora Energy's specially designed
    TPV Thermal Photovoltaic Panels
    – simply pass through the panel. In the case of solar, this is a waste. But the TPV has an infra-red mirror on the back of the cells that reflects the photons back to the battery where they are reabsorbed, increasing the efficiency of the system. Solar cells have a maximum theoretical efficiency of 33% and in practice conventional solar cells have an efficiency just over 20%. The TPV, with its reflection and reabsorption of photons, has reached 40%.
  • A shutter in front of the thermovoltaics and a separate shutter in front of something extracting heat means each can be independently controlled.

References:

[1] Antora Energy (Accessed on 15th November, 2023) https://antoraenergy.com/
[2] 'A super-battery aimed at decarbonizing industry' (Accessed on 15th November, 2023) https://transcripts.volts.wtf/a-super-battery-aimed-at-decar . . .