This Brick Is the World’s Most Boring Climate Solution

“After the rise of solar energy and lithium batteries, this is the third most exciting thing in my career that I have seen,” said Eric Gimon, a policy adviser with Energy Innovation who also coauthored the master plan proposal for Pueblo’s new solar park.

“There was always this idea that we were going to clean up electricity first, then transportation and buildings, and eventually we would get to industry because it was hard,” Gimon added. “But we do not have time for that, and there is a lot of benefit that can happen if we do these things in parallel.”

Yet, Gimons said that a lack of governmental support and industry willpower are major hurdles for the heat battery market. 

Many industrial customers remain reluctant. “They do not want to take risks, especially if it is such a core element of their production, their process, their business,” said Doron Brenmiller, chief business officer of Brenmiller Energy.

Brenmiller, who is bringing his thermal batteries to the European market, has focused on making the product as attractive as possible for companies. His firm takes on nearly all the risk by financing, building, securing permits, arranging contracts, and delivering the service in a single package. Depending on the client’s needs, the construction of wind and solar farms can also be included. The customer’s role is reduced to signing a long-term agreement of seven to 20 years. “They are going to purchase steam by the cubic meter from us, and we are going to do all the rest,” he said.

The transition will not be easy, and it needs “smart policy” behind it, said Gimon. But cleaning up industrial heat also offers major opportunities for job creation and economic growth.