Renewables now provide about 22 percent of U.S. electricity, with wind and solar alone accounting for about 14 percent.

目前，可再生能源提供了約 22% 的美國電力，僅風能和太陽能就佔了約 14%。

But there's a challenge.

但這也是一個挑戰。

Wind and solar depend on the weather, making energy storage critical.

風能和太陽能取決於天氣，是以能源儲存至關重要。

Enter thermal batteries, a reimagined technology that stores excess energy from renewables when production is high and releases it when needed.

熱電池是一種全新的技術，它能在可再生能源產量高時儲存多餘的能量，並在需要時釋放出來。

Intermittent wind and solar power are becoming the cheapest forms of energy that humans have ever known.

間歇性風能和太陽能正在成為人類有史以來最廉價的能源形式。

And all kinds of energy storage is now being used to harness that to drive transportation, to drive the electricity grid.

現在，各種儲能技術都被用於利用儲能來驅動運輸和電網。

Heat batteries are a fundamentally new way of storing energy at a small fraction of the cost.

熱電池是一種全新的能源儲存方式，成本僅為原來的一小部分。

A thermal battery is a device that stores electricity as heat in a variety of materials like graphite or bricks, keeping it hot for hours or days until it's needed to be released as electricity.

熱電池是一種將電能以熱量的形式儲存在石墨或磚塊等各種材料中的裝置，可將熱量保持數小時或數天，直到需要時才以電能的形式釋放出來。

They can reach various temperatures going over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the technology and materials, making it perfect for powering factories.

根據技術和材料的不同，它們可以達到華氏 3000 度以上的各種溫度，是以非常適合為工廠提供動力。

This simple technology helps store energy from renewable sources like wind and solar when wind and solar generation is intermittent.

當風能和太陽能發電出現間歇時，這種簡單的技術有助於儲存風能和太陽能等可再生能源的能量。

By using materials like clay and iron alloy instead of rare resources like lithium or cobalt, thermal batteries avoid the supply chain constraints of other technologies.

通過使用粘土和鐵合金等材料而不是鋰或鈷等稀有資源，熱能電池避免了其他技術的供應鏈限制。

What a thermal battery does is it allows you to soak up those clean inexpensive electrons from wind and solar, store them as heat and then deliver that energy later to an industrial customer on demand and cost effectively.

熱能電池的作用是吸收來自風能和太陽能的清潔、廉價電子，將其儲存為熱能，然後按需向工業客戶提供低成本的能源。

But thermal battery companies must prove that they can scale their systems to replace fossil fuel heat in a variety of industries, which requires significant investment and infrastructure upgrades.

但是，熱能電池公司必須證明，它們能夠在各種行業中擴大系統規模，取代化石燃料熱能，這就需要大量投資和基礎設施升級。

CNBC talked to some of the companies leading the charge in thermal batteries to understand why they're going all in on this technology.

CNBC 採訪了一些在熱電池領域處於領先地位的公司，以瞭解他們為什麼要全力發展這項技術。

Thermal batteries could be the solution to decarbonizing heavy industry.

熱電池可能是重工業去碳化的解決方案。

There are many, many companies, many, many people around the world racing to try to develop an energy storage technology that's cheap enough to enable that to fully displace fossil fuel based power production.

全世界有很多很多公司、很多很多人都在競相開發一種足夠廉價的儲能技術，以完全取代化石燃料發電。

And the reason this is a race is because it really comes down to the fact that the current technology we have, which is lithium ion batteries, is too expensive.

之所以說這是一場競賽，是因為歸根結底，我們目前擁有的鋰離子電池技術太昂貴了。

One report that examined long duration energy storage projects around the world found that the capital costs for a fully installed lithium ion battery system were $304 per kilowatt hour compared to $232 per kilowatt hour for thermal energy systems.

一份研究全球長期能源儲存項目的報告發現，完全安裝鋰離子電池系統的資本成本為每千瓦時 304 美元，而熱能系統的資本成本為每千瓦時 232 美元。

Heat batteries are a critical tool to decarbonize industry, which otherwise is on track to be way more than half of all our greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

熱能電池是實現工業脫碳的關鍵工具，否則到 2050 年，工業排放的溫室氣體將超過我們總排放量的一半。

Intermittent electricity is cheaper than burning fuel.

間歇性供電比燃燒燃料便宜。

If we can have very low cost energy storage to deliver energy the way industry uses energy as heat, we can lower the cost of making everything from steel to baby food and we can cut world CO2 emissions, total world CO2 emissions, 20 percent.

如果我們能以非常低的成本儲能，以工業用熱的方式提供能源，我們就能降低從鋼鐵到嬰兒食品等一切產品的製造成本，我們就能將全球二氧化碳排放總量減少 20%。

Here in California's Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area startup Rondo Energy has built its first commercial thermal battery.

在加利福尼亞州的中央山谷，舊金山灣區的初創公司 Rondo Energy 已建成首個商用熱能電池。

It stores power from solar panels at CalGren Renewable Fuel's biofuel facility to produce high temperature heat 24-7.

它將來自 CalGren Renewable Fuel 生物燃料設施太陽能電池板的電力儲存起來，全天候生產高溫熱能。

A Rondo heat battery is a box that on the one side has an electrical connection where it's taking electricity some of the time when the wind blows, when the sun shines, and delivers steam all the time.

隆多熱能電池是一個盒子，它的一側有一個電氣連接，在風吹日晒的時候，它可以在某些時候取電，而在任何時候都可以提供蒸汽。

Meeting the needs of an industrial facility that's running all year long.

滿足全年運行的工業設施的需求。

Thermal storage isn't new.

蓄熱技術並不新鮮。

It's been used for years, but now it's being reimagined in a whole new way.

它已使用多年，但現在正以一種全新的方式被重新想象。

This is a 200-year-old technology.

這是一項擁有 200 年曆史的技術。

Rondo found a way to take that process and that material to build the world's lowest cost, simplest energy storage.

Rondo 找到了一種方法，利用這種工藝和材料製造出世界上成本最低、最簡單的儲能設備。

Wind and solar are now the cheapest energy sources.

風能和太陽能是目前最便宜的能源。

Making thermal storage of this type of energy an attractive option.

是以，對這類能源進行熱能儲存是一個極具吸引力的選擇。

The fact that you can hold the energy for months means that you could charge up a battery when the sun is plentiful, when the wind is plentiful, and you can hold on to it for days, weeks or even more than that and for months until you're ready to get it back on the grid.

事實上，你可以將能量保存數月，這意味著你可以在陽光充足、風力充沛的時候為電池充電，並將其保存數天、數週甚至更長時間，直到你準備好將其送回電網。

And so this flexibility to be able to insulate a system and hold the energy for a long period of time allows us to really look at relying on this form of energy storage for a range of the needs on the grid.

是以，這種能夠隔絕系統並長期保持能量的靈活性，使我們能夠真正依靠這種形式的儲能來滿足電網的各種需求。

Thermal batteries offer a low-cost, scalable way to decarbonize.

熱電池提供了一種低成本、可擴展的脫碳方式。

And unlike lithium-ion batteries, which store electricity, these systems store heat, essential for industries like steel, cement and chemicals.

與儲存電力的鋰離子電池不同，這些系統可以儲存熱量，而熱量對鋼鐵、水泥和化工等行業至關重要。

Lithium isn't exactly rare, but it does need to be mined and processed before going into a battery.

鋰並不十分稀有，但它確實需要經過開採和加工才能用於電池。

We use unrefined raw materials, brick made from clay, that we store energy by heating it to over 1,000 C, over 2,000 Fahrenheit.

我們使用未經提煉的原材料--粘土磚，通過將其加熱到攝氏 1000 多度（華氏 2000 多度）來儲存能量。

And a pound of brick stores more energy than a pound of lithium-ion battery at less than 10 percent the cost.

一磅磚儲存的能量比一磅鋰離子電池儲存的能量還多，而成本卻不到一成。

Founded in 2020 with backing from Bill Gates, Rondo currently produces 2.4 gigawatt hours of heat batteries annually and plans to scale to 90 gigawatt hours by 2027.

Rondo 公司成立於 2020 年，得到了比爾-蓋茨的支持，目前每年生產 2.4 千兆瓦時的發熱電池，並計劃到 2027 年擴大到 90 千兆瓦時。

That's enough to cut 12 million tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 4 million gas cars off the road.

這足以減少 1200 萬噸二氧化碳排放量，相當於減少 400 萬輛汽油車的行駛。

Its batteries are made at a Siam Cement Group factory in Thailand, which is undergoing a 40-fold expansion.

其電池是在泰國的一家暹羅水泥集團工廠製造的，該工廠正在進行 40 倍的擴建。

Once complete, it will surpass Tesla and GM's lithium-ion plants to become the largest battery factory by output.

一旦完工，它將超過特斯拉和通用汽車的鋰離子電池工廠，成為產量最大的電池工廠。

Since June 2023, Rondo has announced 11 commercial developments.

自 2023 年 6 月以來，Rondo 已宣佈開發 11 個商業項目。

This includes eight projects over $140 million in funding and four key partnerships.

其中包括 8 個資金超過 1.4 億美元的項目和 4 個重要的合作伙伴關係。

Together, these represent more than 3 gigawatt hours of heat battery development opportunities.

這些熱能電池的開發機會合計超過 3 千兆瓦時。

These projects span five industries, food and beverage, cement, fuel, chemicals and textiles.

這些項目涉及食品和飲料、水泥、燃料、化工和紡織五個行業。

The products produced range from fine grade whiskey and ready-to-drink cocktails to sustainable aviation fuel, cement, recycled plastics and biogas.

生產的產品範圍廣泛，從高級威士忌和即飲雞尾酒到可持續航空燃料、水泥、再生塑膠和沼氣。

We really have an enormous amount of demand coming from industrials to work with us because they see us in many cases as the only platform that can really address the need at the scale and the speed that they need to address it.

工業企業對與我們合作的需求量非常大，因為在很多情況下，他們認為我們是唯一能真正滿足他們規模和速度需求的平臺。

One of those deals is Eastman Chemical, a $10 billion specialty materials company to provide energy storage at a recycling plant in Texas.

其中一筆交易是伊士曼化學公司（Eastman Chemical），這是一家價值 100 億美元的特種材料公司，將在得克薩斯州的一家回收工廠提供能源儲存。

It was really an opportunity to lower greenhouse gas emissions and do that in a way that enabled ongoing safe, reliable operation of the plant.

這確實是一個降低溫室氣體排放的機會，而且能使發電廠持續安全可靠地運行。

Clothing giant H&M is also investing in Rondo.

服裝巨頭 H&M 也對 Rondo 進行了投資。

The retailer plans to use its heat batteries to decarbonize its clothing factories.

該零售商計劃利用熱電池為其服裝工廠脫碳。

Rondo isn't alone.

隆多並不孤單。

Almost 30 companies are racing to develop thermal storage solutions.

近 30 家公司正在競相開發熱存儲解決方案。

One of them is Antora Energy, based in Sunnyvale, California.

位於加利福尼亞桑尼維爾的 Antora Energy 公司就是其中之一。

Founded in 2018, Antora uses carbon-based blocks to capture and store heat.

安托拉公司成立於 2018 年，使用碳基塊來捕獲和儲存熱量。

The company is also working to convert that heat back into electricity with thermophotovoltaic technology.

該公司還致力於利用熱光電技術將熱量轉化為電能。

Antora has raised $150 million to commercialize its design and scale production.

Antora 已籌集了 1.5 億美元，用於實現其設計的商業化和規模化生產。

What we've done at Antora is develop a whole new way to store energy in a thermal battery.

我們在 Antora 所做的就是開發一種全新的熱電池儲能方式。

And it's using techniques that have been around for centuries, which is basically just take an inexpensive material like a solid block of carbon and heat it up.

它使用的技術已經存在了幾個世紀，基本上就是使用一種廉價的材料，比如一塊堅固的碳塊，然後將其加熱。

But the way that we've constructed our product, the way that we're manufacturing it in a modular way here in a U.S. factory, all of that is new and will dramatically accelerate the deployment of this technology.

但是，我們構建產品的方式，我們在美國工廠以模塊化方式製造產品的方式，所有這些都是全新的，將大大加快這項技術的應用。

Forthpower in Boston is another one.

波士頓的 Forthpower 是另一個例子。

Its systems use superheated graphite blocks and thermophotovoltaic cells to convert stored heat into clean power.

其系統使用過熱石墨塊和熱光伏電池將儲存的熱量轉化為清潔電力。

A recent $19 million funding round is helping it build a 10 megawatt hour power plant to test out the technology.

最近的一輪 1900 萬美元融資正在幫助該公司建造一座 10 兆瓦時的發電廠，以測試該技術。

We take energy from renewables, solar or wind, the actual energy is stored in graphite blocks.

我們從太陽能或風能等可再生能源中獲取能量，實際能量儲存在石墨塊中。

And we convert the heat back to electricity using a special kind of solar cell that we call a thermophotovoltaic cell, an extremely high temperature heating element very similar to an incandescent light bulb.

我們使用一種特殊的太陽能電池將熱量轉化為電能，這種電池被稱為熱光電池，它是一種溫度極高的加熱元件，與白熾燈非常相似。

For thermal batteries to transform industrial energy, several challenges must be overcome.

熱電池要想改變工業能源，必須克服幾個挑戰。

The biggest challenge today is that almost no one knows that this new kind of energy storage is now here.

目前最大的挑戰是，幾乎沒有人知道這種新型儲能技術已經出現。

But that's starting to change.

但這種情況正在開始改變。

In Europe, thermal batteries are gaining traction with an ecosystem of utilities and developers emerging.

在歐洲，隨著公用事業和開發商生態系統的出現，熱能電池正獲得越來越多的關注。

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the focus has been on other green energy projects.

與此同時，美國的重點則放在了其他綠色能源項目上。

In the United States today, a lot of the focus, rightly so, has been on electric vehicles and decarbonizing the grid.

今天的美國，很多焦點都集中在電動汽車和電網去碳化上，這是正確的。

But this is the next giant opportunity in addition to those things.

但除了這些之外，這是下一個巨大的機遇。

And one of the limits on how fast this can grow is how fast can the market be educated that this is now here?

而限制其發展速度的一個因素是，市場能夠多快地瞭解到這一切已經到來？

The nature of thermal energy storage projects also makes them more difficult to develop.

熱能儲存項目的性質也增加了其開發難度。

One of the challenges will just be, as we scale up, actually attracting the capital that it takes to actually do these deployments early on and then seeing the costs actually come down.

我們面臨的挑戰之一是，隨著我們規模的擴大，如何在早期吸引到實際部署所需的資金，然後看到成本實際下降。

Integration with existing systems is also an obstacle.

與現有系統集成也是一個障礙。

Eastman Chemical is working to decarbonize its methanolysis process.

伊士曼化學公司正在努力使其甲醇分解工藝脫碳。

Whereby hard-to-recycle polyester is recycled into new materials.

在這種情況下，難以回收的聚酯被回收利用，製成新材料。

We are integrating this technology with our co-gen technology that already exists at the facility.

我們正在將這項技術與工廠現有的共生技術相結合。

And we'll be leveraging a combination of solar power and green energy credits from the grid.

我們將利用太陽能發電和來自電網的綠色能源積分。

And it's the integration of those two technologies into a single cohesive system connected to our methanolysis facility is the more challenging aspect of this.

而將這兩項技術整合成一個與我們的甲醇分解設施相連的統一系統，則是其中更具挑戰性的方面。

Despite these challenges, thermal batteries have a cost advantage over many energy storage technologies, positioning them as a key player in decarbonizing industrial energy.

儘管存在這些挑戰，但與許多儲能技術相比，熱電池具有成本優勢，是以成為工業能源去碳化的重要參與者。