Your whiskey may soon be made with a huge ‘brick toaster’ battery
Alcoholic drinks giant Diageo will replace natural gas-fired heat with Rondo Energy’s Heat Batteries at its production sites in Kentucky and Illinois.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the Diageo–Rondo Energy project up to $75 million. That money comes from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. It’s part of the DOE’s $6 billion funding to decarbonize energy-intensive industries for 33 projects across 20 states.
Traditional beverage industry production processes – such as distilling, bottling, cleaning, pasteurization, and HVAC systems – require large thermal loads to run operations, and natural gas typically powers the boilers used for heating.
Enter industrial heat company Rondo Energy’s Heat Batteries, which use electric heating elements, like in a toaster or oven, to turn clean power into high-temperature heat.
Rondo Energy’s drop-in replacement Heat Batteries will replace natural gas at Diageo’s production facilities in Shelbyville, Kentucky (where Bulleitt Bourbon is made), and Plainfield, Illinois. That will eliminate nearly 17,000 metric tons of direct greenhouse gas emissions annually across the two facilities, equivalent to taking more than 4,046 gas-powered cars off the road yearly.
It will also serve as a replicable blueprint for how manufacturing facilities can integrate thermal batteries with intermittent renewable energy.
The Rondo Heat Battery captures intermittent electricity from solar and wind, stores the energy from that electricity as high-temperature heat in brick materials, and delivers the stored energy on demand as high-temperature heat and/or electricity.
The battery, made only of brick and iron, charges in as little as four hours and stores heat energy at temperatures up to 1500C for hours or days.
Rondo, backed by Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures and utility-backed Energy Impact Partners, says its Heat Batteries maintain continuous output power (95% annual capacity factor) while operating on input power as low as 15% capacity factor (four hours a day).
Read more: Texas installs another big solar + battery storage project
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. – ad*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes Tern’s NYC e-bike delivery fleet surpasses 1 million miles, the CPSC has a stark warning about Rad’s e-bike batteries, what parents should know if their kid wants a Sur Ron e-moto, JackRabbit MG Doble review, Strutt’s EV1 electric mobility chair, and more.
The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:00 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:00 a.m. ET):
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
The Port of Houston took a big step towards electrifying its operations this week, when the stevedores at Houston Terminal deployed the first new SANY electric reach stacker at the major seaside port – and it won’t be the last.
Multinational equipment brand SANY launched its latest 50-ton electric reach stacker earlier this summer. The new machine drew headlines by cleverly pairing gravity and a KERS-style regenerative braking system attacked to its boom to generate electricity as it lowers loads. The tech significantly improved the machine’s operating efficiency and reduced the sort of costs typically associated with charging and downtime.
With the purchase of the new SANY electric reach stacker from local equipment dealer, Equipment Depot, Houston Terminal has begun to do its part to help keep the air and water around America’s busy seaports pollution-free.
“In this market, there’s a shift towards sustainable equipment,” explains Greg Schertz, Sr. National Account Executive at Equipment Depot — a national equipment supplier that sells and services to roughly 85% of US sea ports. “Electric equipment is a growing trend, and it has become more than a conversation point. Actual machines are going into service and are proving their capability.”
Equipment Depot is quick to point out that the national move towards electrification isn’t about regulations. “The bigger picture is that the world has become more of a global market,” says Chad Larson, VP of Heavy Trucks and Port Equipment at Equipment Depot. “(And) in the port industry, there are many relationships and parent companies with ties into Europe and other parts of the world where zero carbon initiatives are more progressive than the US.”
Robert Marshall, General Manager of Houston Terminal, echoes Schertz’ sentiment, “Electric equipment has a much easier, much simpler maintenance program, because basically you’re just maintaining tires.”
SANY electric reach stacker
At its launch in August, SANY said its new 50t reach stacker would be available with a 512 kWh swappable battery pack. That pack isn’t just huge, it’s compatible with the brand’s other electric equipment assets, and can support both DC fast charging when swapping isn’t practical and the grid itself by “plugging in” to the company’s BESS modules when not needed.
Houston Terminal bought the SANY unit with help from a Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) Grant, part of TERP’s Seaport and Rail Yard Areas Emissions Reduction (SPRY) Program to replace older drayage trucks and equipment at seaports and rail yards. Houston Terminal intends to apply for another TERP grant to buy a second reach stacker in 2026.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Equipment Depot; via AJOT.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
The mining equipment experts at Sandvik have been developing next-generation electric equipment options for years – largely on their own. Now, with a €500 million capital injection from the EIB, the company is ready to get serious about its next-generation machinery.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union (EU), and its core mission is to strengthen the global competitiveness, technological innovations, and sustainability initiatives of European companies like Sandvik by providing affordable financing for R&D projects conducted on the continent.
“We have a strong strategic focus on developing solutions that strengthen our technology leadership, and that enhances productivity, safety and sustainability for our customers,” explains Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik. “The EIB financing supports our R&D initiatives and provides flexibility to our overall funding strategy.”
The €500 million loan has a seven-year term, and will support Sandvik’s efforts to develop new advanced, productive, safe, and (above all) sustainable heavy equipment solutions across the company’s business lines.
Electrek’s Take
We’ve covered Sandvik’s electric equipment several times over the years, from their surface drill rigs to their underground loaders to their quarry- and concrete-focused electric cone plants, and the brand’s commitment to sustainability and operator safety has been commendable. Even the company’s push towards automation and AI, often seen as a corporate tactic to slash labor costs and boost stock prices before the executives bail out with a fat stack of cash fulfill their exit strategies, seems to be genuinely motivated by worker safety in one of the world’s most dangerous environments.
Of course, I said that about Volvo and they’re actively suing California to be able to sell more diesels as aI type this, so what do I know?
SOURCE | IMAGES: Sandvik.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024