SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Antora Energy, a leader in zero-carbon heat and power for the industrial sector, today announced its thermal battery has been named to TIME’s annual list of the Best Inventions, which features extraordinary innovations changing our lives. The breakthrough technology is recognized in the Green Energy category for delivering zero-emissions heat and power with a modular, factory-assembled, commercial-scale thermal battery using low-cost and earth-abundant materials. With this technology, Antora has proven a clear path to cost-effectively decarbonizing industry.
Antora uses renewable electricity to heat blocks of solid carbon—a low-cost, earth-abundant, and stable storage medium that’s already used extensively in other industries—to glowing-hot temperatures in an insulated thermal battery module. That stored heat is then delivered at the scale and temperatures that large industrial operations demand, at costs competitive with fossil fuels. In addition, Antora’s thermal battery can output electricity at breakthrough efficiencies using Antora’s thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technology, which converts the stored heat directly into electricity with no moving parts.
Antora’s thermal battery was selected through a rigorous process in which TIME’s editors and correspondents around the world evaluate each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. The judges pay special attention to growing fields—such as AI, green energy, and sustainability.
“We are honored that Antora’s thermal battery has been named one of TIME’s 2023 Best Inventions,” said Andrew Ponec, co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy. “This recognition reflects the milestones we have achieved to offer the lowest-cost pathway to decarbonize industry. Antora’s thermal battery unlocks zero-emissions heat and power cheaper than fossil fuels—all in a small, modular product that can scale to meet the demand of the biggest industrial facilities in the United States and around the world.”
Most recently, Antora announced its first thermal battery manufacturing facility, located in San Jose, CA, marking a significant milestone for large-scale industrial decarbonization and domestic manufacturing. This achievement also comes on the heels of Antora announcing it had reached the highest temperature that has been demonstrated to date for thermal batteries at full scale, storing energy above 1,800°C—hot enough to address “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors. Earlier this year, the company launched the world’s largest production line of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, unlocking heat-to-power conversion at high efficiencies with no moving parts.
Of the new list, TIME’s editors write: “The result is a list of 200 groundbreaking inventions that are changing how we live, work, play, and think about what’s possible.”
See the full list of TIME’s Best Inventions here: time.com/best-inventions-2023. To learn more about Antora’s thermal battery, visit: antoraenergy.com.
About Antora Energy
Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Antora converts low-cost, intermittent renewable electricity into reliable, on-demand, zero-emissions industrial heat and power. Antora’s thermal batteries can discharge zero-emissions electricity and/or heat at temperatures hot enough to address the hardest-to-decarbonize industrial applications. 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 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.
