Sun, Water, Salt, and Graphite: A Sustainable Pathway to Decarbonizing Heat

2019年，建筑占全球能源相关二氧化碳排放量的28%。加拿大的气候变化目标只有在与建筑供暖/制冷相关的排放显著减少的情况下才能实现。展望未来，到2070年，建筑面积和空间冷却需求预计将翻一番，超过目前的脱碳努力。过渡到全电动（清洁）供暖是不可行的，因为它会压倒现有的电网，特别是考虑到交通部门的快速电气化。这清楚地表明，开发替代加热和冷却技术以实现脱碳的迫切需要。目前，全球90%的能源使用涉及产生或操纵热量，其中60%作为低品位热量排放到环境中。这项探索计划的首要目标是提高我们有效储存、运输和转换低品位热量的能力，这在建立可持续能源网络中起着不可或缺的作用。建立新型吸收式热变压器有潜力解决这一重大挑战，并彻底改变行业。吸收式热变压器是新兴的、灵活的系统，能够提供可再生的加热、热水和全年使用低品位热量的冷却。它们具有高能量储存密度，能够长期储存热量，对环境的损失最小。它们提供了大规模过剩电力转换为热/冷和储存的潜力，而不需要稀土矿物或对环境有害的材料。然而，热变压器仍处于概念阶段，需要一个整体的方法来极大地提高其效率、可靠性和市场可行性的成本。基于我们最近在新型吸附复合材料开发方面取得的进展，并引入了一种独特的设计/优化方法（遗传算法和仿生学的结合），用于制造具有最小热惯性的新型成本效益，耐腐蚀，石墨基热交换器，我们现在有机会大大提高吸收式热变压器/储热技术的性能并降低其成本，将其推向市场。这个研究项目有可能显著减少建筑排放，这将有相当大的健康和环境效益。此外，它还将使代表性不足和寻求公平的社区受益，这些社区与北美电力和天然气配电网隔离和分散，依赖污染和昂贵的柴油来满足其供暖需求。创新是该计划的核心，具有创建衍生公司的潜力。发达的人才、专业知识、材料和技术将增强加拿大创造下一代清洁能源解决方案的能力，这是增值出口的理想选择，并为所有加拿大人的利益提供能源和就业保障。

In 2019, buildings accounted for 28% of the global energy-related CO2 emissions. Canada's Climate Change targets can only be met if the emissions associated with the heating/cooling of buildings are significantly reduced. Looking ahead, building floor area and space cooling demand are projected to double by 2070, exceeding the current decarbonization efforts. A transition to fully electric (clean) heating isn't feasible as it would overwhelm the existing grid, especially considering the fast-paced electrification of the transport sector. This clearly indicates the crucial need for developing alternative heating and cooling technologies to achieve decarbonization. Presently, 90% of global energy use involves the generation or manipulation of heat, 60% of which is discharged to the ambient as low-grade heat. The overarching goal of this Discovery Program is to advance our ability to efficiently store, transport, and convert low-grade heat, which plays an indispensable role in establishing a sustainable energy grid. Building novel sorption heat transformers has the potential to address this grand challenge and revolutionize the industry. Sorption heat transformers are emerging, flexible systems capable of providing renewable heating, hot water, and cooling year-round using low-grade heat. They have high energy storage density and are capable of long-term thermal storage with minimal loss to the ambient. They offer the potential for large-scale excess electricity conversion to heat/cold and storage with no need for rare-earth minerals or environmentally harmful materials. Nevertheless, heat transformers are still at a concept stage and a holistic approach is required to tremendously improve their efficiency, reliability, and cost for market viability. Building on our recent progress in the development of new sorption composites and introducing a unique design/optimization approach (a combination of genetic algorithms & biomimicry) for fabricating new cost-effective, corrosion-resistant, graphite-based heat exchangers with minimal thermal inertia, we now have a window of opportunity to greatly improve the performance of sorption heat transformer/thermal storage technology and reduce their cost to introduce them to the market. This research program has a potential to significantly reduce building emissions, which will have considerable health & environmental benefits. Furthermore, it will benefit underrepresented and equity-seeking communities that are isolated and decentralized from the North American electricity & natural gas distribution grids and dependent on polluting and expensive diesel for their heating demands. Innovation is at the core of this program with potential for creating spin-off companies. The developed talent, expertise, materials, and technologies will enhance Canada's ability to create the next generation of clean energy solutions-ideal for value-added export and providing energy & job security for the benefit of all Canadians.