Unlocking Cheap and Reliable Energy Storage for Renewable Energy Transition

The podcast explores the challenge of storing renewable energy in a way that is cost-effective and reliable for large industries to transition away from fossil fuels. The traditional solution of using lithium-ion batteries is too expensive and impractical for industries with high energy demands. The podcast discusses the need for new energy storage technologies that are not only cheap but also efficient. One potential solution is thermal energy storage, which involves heating blocks of graphite to store energy in the form of heat. The use of light as a medium to transfer heat within the system shows promising results. The podcast concludes with the upcoming deployment of a pilot project using thermal energy storage at a customer site in California, showcasing the potential of this technology to replace fossil fuel-based heating.