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This isn't an electricity solution, they are asserting that ~27% of global energy consumption is for industrial heating, which is a more straightforward use cas
by largbae 4y ago
This isn't an electricity solution, they are asserting that ~27% of global energy consumption is for industrial heating, which is a more straightforward use case for hot bricks.
edit: I misspoke, 27% of greenhouse gas emissions are asserted to be from industrial heating applications, not 27% of energy use.
- dotancohen 4y agoAre lithium-ion batteries typically used for industrial heating? That is what these bricks are being compared to. They are even using the terms "charge" and "discharge", and proposing an end to battery storage.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- anttisalmela 4y agoWe are going to have lot of intermittent energy production with wind and solar energy. This is a cheap way to convert that to continuous heat for industrial processes, instead of storing it as electricity in expensive batteries.
- xani_ 4y ago...okay ? But how the bricks help ? Like, there is some merit in say heating up the "heat battery" at peak solar power (or just when grid energy is cheapest) then using that to heat directly but... you're still doing it at 100% efficiency while heat pump does that at 200-300% using nothing but ambient temperature to get that efficiency. I guess you could use it as a hybrid solution with heat pump for very cold climates that would normally disqualify heat pumps (heat the brick during the day, use heat pump to get the heat back) but even that is kinda meh.
- luckylion 4y agoThey are talking about "heat" as in "industrial heating", not heating your home. Can heat pumps heat steam up to 1000°C?
- pfdietz 4y agoIn the US 2/3rds of industrial heat demand is at temperature <= 300 C, and various kinds of heat pumps would be very useful for those applications.
- perihelions 4y agoDo you happen to have a source/reference for that?
- pfdietz 4y agohttps://www.nrel.gov/analysis/solar-industrial-process-heat.html https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/solar-industrial-process-heat....
- perihelions 4y agoThanks! That's an excellent link.
- Gibbon1 4y agoRenewables open up a huge opportunity for exploiting the fluctuating availability and therefor price of energy. Thermal storage is one way to execute. Buy solar power when it's cheap at noon and use it for heating at midnight when power is expensive.
- HyperSane 4y ago"Renewables open up a huge opportunity for exploiting the fluctuating availability and therefor price of energy." Actually it is the complete opposite, wind and solar create a huge PROBLEM with its unreliable fluctuating output.
- HyperSane 4y agoIt is a way to mitigate the variability of wind and solar power. You can heat the bricks with solar electric during the day and use it at night, or heat them with wind power and use the heat when it isn't windy.