SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring sustainable designs, innovative products, bold social initiatives, and other creative projects that are changing the way we work, live, and interact with the world.
Antora Energy’s breakthrough in thermal energy storage technology was honored as a World Changing Idea in the Sustainability & Energy category. Antora’s thermal battery converts low-cost, intermittent renewable electricity into a reliable, on-demand source of zero-emissions industrial heat and power. Industry is the single biggest contributor to climate change, accounting for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Antora has developed a solution that offers the lowest-cost pathway to multi-gigaton-scale emissions reductions in the industrial sector, powering existing industrial processes at a lower cost than fossil fuels.
Antora’s technology uses wind and solar electricity to heat up blocks of solid carbon to temperatures above 1500°C. This heat can then be used in high-temperature, always-on industrial processes—including ultra-high temperature heat for making materials like steel and cement. Antora can also convert the light from these glowing-hot carbon blocks back into electricity using its record-breaking thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technology, making it the only thermal energy storage technology capable of cost-effectively outputting both zero-emissions heat and zero-emissions power.
This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 45 winners, 216 finalists, and more than 300 honorable mentions—with health, climate, energy, and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,200 entries across urban design, education, nature, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year including rapid response, crypto and blockchain, agriculture, and workplace. The 2023 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Italy to Singapore to New Zealand.
Fast Company’s Spring 2023 issue (on newsstands May 9, 2023) will showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and forward-thinking companies that are actively tackling global challenges. The solutions cover everything from water reuse in urban environments and modular housing to an initiative combating book bans and a program that spotlights trans-friendly salons around the world.
“We are honored to be named among this class of World Changing Ideas with the first-ever thermal battery capable of outputting zero-carbon heat and power for days on end,” said Andrew Ponec, co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy. “This recognition from Fast Company is a testament to our wonderful team and our technology, which is already being deployed at full scale. Antora’s modular, replicable design will enable our thermal batteries to quickly scale at industrial facilities across the country, accelerating the decarbonization of industry that is essential to meet the world’s emissions reduction targets.”
“It’s thrilling to see the creativity and innovation that are so abundant among this year’s honorees,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “While it’s easy to feel discouraged by the state of the world, the entrepreneurs, companies, and nonprofits featured in this package show the limitless potential to address society’s most urgent problems. Our journalists have highlighted some of the most exciting and impactful work being done today—from housing to equity to sustainability—and we look forward to seeing not only how these projects evolve but how they inspire others to develop solutions of their own.”
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
About Antora Energy
Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Antora converts low-cost, intermittent renewable electricity into a reliable, on-demand source of zero-emissions industrial heat and power. Antora’s thermal batteries can discharge zero-carbon electricity and/or heat at temperatures up to 1500°C or higher. Antora’s technology will eliminate gigatons of emissions while increasing U.S. energy security, reducing our nation's dependence on global supply chains, and supporting well-paying American jobs. The company is backed by leading investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Shell Ventures, BHP Ventures, Trust Ventures, Fifty Years, Grok Ventures, Impact Science Ventures, and Overture VC. Visit www.antoraenergy.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.
