Solar and wind power have broken through, and now compete successfully with coal and gas generation. Electric vehicles are close to competing with petroleum fuels, but they are not there yet. Thermal heat batteries could be the next bridge to cross. Did you know that high temperature manufacture can cause 20% of all carbon emissions?
The Ancient Lineage of Thermal Heat Batteries
Our ancestors heated stones in camp fires to warm their caves at night. Many centuries later, their descendants heated water for public baths the same way. But timeless nature stole on a march on both, because that’s how it heats water at geothermal hot springs.
Thermal heat batteries are beginning to revolutionize industry, by capturing this natural process. The technology that pioneering prototypes are using is breathtakingly straightforward. Their ‘batteries’ can be as simple as steel containers full of solid carbon, and capable of curating high temperatures, at least in theory:
- High-temperature manufacturing may account for 25% of all fossil fuel consumption.
- Surplus energy, ideally from solar and wind generation, warms the carbon blocks.
- The carbon temperature potentially increases to 1,800º centigrade / 3,250º fahrenheit.
- This heat is often required for steel, food, paper, chemical, and many other industries.
- Concrete has also proven effective for storing energy this way, among other options.
How Likely Are We To See This Commercially?
An article in Financial Times (see link below) caught our eye, and inspired this post. The main thrust was storing high temperature in rocks, bricks and other materials. We learned how the outside layer of a brick kiln retained the temperature inside, when we were kids. But how would this work with thermal heat batteries?
Heat batteries receive their energy from an electric coil running through, following the principle of heat conduction. Heat pumps could achieve this up to 200º centigrade / 400º fahrenheit. Beyond that though, we need electro-thermal batteries.
Financial Times notes how prepared Europe is for this technology, with energy prices rising. Heat batteries are already able to service production up to 400º centigrade / 750º fahrenheit, it says. This could address half the current need facing us now.
More Information
Storing Energy in Heat Brighter Than the Sun
Heat Batteries and Time for Another Look
