Can a Simple Brick Be the Next Great Battery? | John O'Donnell | TED

The Future of Industrial Heat: A Path to Decarbonization

The Role of Bricks in CO2 Reduction

• The speaker expresses hope regarding a specific brick, which is projected to cut CO2 emissions over the next 50 years and contribute to a 15% reduction in global CO2 levels.

Understanding Industrial Energy Use

• Fire is essential for various processes, including heating homes and industrial production, which relies heavily on fossil fuels.

• Industrial energy use constitutes the largest segment of the world economy, with industrial heat accounting for a quarter of global fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Decarbonizing Industry

• The focus should be on decarbonizing rather than deindustrializing; achieving this requires new methods of generating clean heat.

• Electrification is identified as a promising solution, with analysts predicting it will become a trillion-dollar market due to decreasing costs of wind and solar power.

Challenges in Energy Storage

• While we have the capacity to build renewable energy sources at scale, continuity remains an issue since wind and solar are intermittent.

• Traditional electricity storage methods are often too costly or inefficient for industrial applications; however, storing heat presents a simpler alternative.

Innovations in Heat Storage

• Teams worldwide are developing industrial heat batteries using materials like liquid salts and metals. Rondo's approach utilizes existing materials—brick and iron wire—for efficiency.

• Brick can store significant amounts of energy at lower costs compared to lithium-ion batteries; half a million tons are currently used in steel mills globally.

Combining Technologies for Efficiency

• The combination of brick and iron wire offers cost-effective solutions but poses challenges such as overheating risks that could lead to material failure.

Breakthrough Design Insights

• A key innovation involves heating bricks using radiant heat similar to how toast is made, leading to effective thermal management through design revisions.

Practical Applications of Heat Batteries

• A novel design allows stored energy from heated bricks to be utilized efficiently across various industries by pushing superheated air into systems like kilns or boilers.

Conclusion: Scaling Up Simple Solutions

• This technology represents an opportunity for simple yet scalable solutions that can significantly reduce emissions across industries without complex infrastructure changes.

Rondo's Role in Low-Carbon Fuel Production

Overview of Rondo's Initiatives

• Rondo is actively supplying heat for low-carbon fuel production and is involved in global projects aimed at producing essential materials such as food, chemicals, metals, and cement.

• The company is scaling up brick production to gigawatt levels, with plans to increase this output a hundredfold over the next few years.

Addressing Climate Crisis with New Tools

• The urgency of tackling the climate crisis requires both determination and innovative tools to rapidly develop new energy infrastructure.

• Analysts emphasize that a fully decarbonized world will necessitate twice as much heat-battery storage compared to grid-battery storage.

Benefits of Heat Batteries

• Heat batteries powered by renewable sources like wind and solar are projected to reduce costs associated with manufacturing necessary goods in a decarbonized future.