You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.
I'm your host, Elise Hu. Clean energy visionary Lei Zhang says clean energy is bringing about an age of possibility.
In this talk, he brings us to the Gobi Desert, a massive desert that stretches across northern China and southern Mongolia, where one of the world's largest green hydrogen projects can be found.
He shares how this and other barren landscapes hold more energy reserves than the world consumes today and reminds us all to get a little more creative.
Where others see emptiness, he sees abundance.
Ever feel like you're carrying something heavy and don't know where to put it down?
Or wonder what on earth you're supposed to do when you just can't seem to cope?
I'm Hesu Jo, a licensed therapist with years of experience providing individual and family therapy, and I've teamed up with BetterHelp to create Mind If We Talk, a podcast to demystify what therapy's really about.
In each episode, you'll hear guests talk about struggles we all face, like living with grief or managing anger.
Then we break it all down with a fellow mental health professional to give you actionable tips you can apply to your own life.
Follow and listen to Mind If We Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And don't forget, your happiness matters.
Hi, I'm Kristen Bell. And if you know my husband, Dax, then you also know he loves shopping for a car.
Selling a car? Not so much. We're really doing this, huh?
Thankfully, Carvana makes it easy. Answer a few questions, put in your VIN or license, and done.
We sold ours in minutes this morning, and they'll come pick it up and pay us this afternoon.
Goodbye, truckie. Of course, we kept the favorite.
Hello, other truckie. Sell your car with Carvana today.
Terms and conditions apply. This message is brought to you by Apple Card.
Each Apple product, like the iPhone 16, is thoughtfully designed by skilled designers.
The titanium Apple Card is no different.
It's laser etched, has no numbers, and it earns you daily cash on everything you buy, including 3% back on everything at Apple.
Apply for Apple Card on your iPhone in minutes.
Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch.
Terms and more at applecard.com. My favorite place is in the Mongolia Gobi Desert.
It's most Mars-like in the planet. Barren and empty.
Wind blows all year round. Sandstorms happen often.
In the winter, temperature is as low as minus 40 degrees.
In the summer, it reaches 40 degrees. It's useless.
But it's my most favorite place. I come to Gobi with a belief.
I believe this could be the new space for our civilization.
When people see useless, barrenness, emptiness.
I see abundance. Abundance. If you look at the barren desert, it is filled up with abundant renewable energy.
The strong wind and the shining sun. They are infinite and never end.
I found out the important equation between energy and our prosperities.
2,000 years before the Industrial Revolution, our global GDP only grew five times.
Why? Because we are only able to use five times energy.
Natural energy, agriculture, then transferred to muscle power.
Since the revolution, our global GDP expanded 100 times because we are using 100 times more energy.
So abundant fossil fuel energy has been turned and create forces to drive the machines, create materials like steel, create fertilizer to improve the food production.
Today, it's even creating tremendous intelligence for humanity.
So how can we unlock such a big potential from desert to push humanity to a next level of prosperity?
Because one-hour solar radiation is able to meet our entire annual demand for energy.
It is free, and it is green. In front of Gobi, we have to solve three challenges.
The first one, How can we capture the rough and the raw wind energy?
Just as a steam engine is able to turn coal energy into motion, we end up with wind turbines to capture wind energy to turn into electricity.
Most importantly is to really design a wind turbine that is able to survive in extreme wind conditions in the desert.
Secondly, how can we avoid building long-distance or thousand-mile transmission lines, which are costly and extremely expensive? we end up with the largest off-grid renewable system by integrating wind turbine, solar panel storage with AI orchestrations.
Okay, then the last remaining challenge.
How can we utilize such abundant locally made electricity? we end up with a solution to build net zero industrial park, which is going to produce energy-intensive products like batteries and green hydrogen and ammonia, those green molecules.
Why green ammonia? One ton of green ammonia is able to hold 10,000 kilowatt-hour electricity.
Most importantly, the green molecule is so important for us to decarbonize our economic system.
It's the most difficult car-to-obey segment.
The green hydrogen is going to be used to make green steel, to make natural chemicals, to make green aviation and shipping.
So what's about today? Just right in the heart of the Gobi Desert, the first natural industrial park has been built.
It is totally off-grid, 100 percent by renewable energy.
It is making a state-of-the-art battery.
But most importantly, it is the lowest cost of battery among our envisioning production base.
Why? Because there's tremendous, free, abundant renewable energy.
And we are also building in the desert the largest green hydrogen project in the world.
1.5 million ton green hydrogen and green ammonia.
The first phase, 300,000 tons, is commissioned now.
We are not supposed to build the largest.
Our goal is to make it the cheapest, to make green hydrogen as cheap as green.
Why is the cost so vital? Because history told us This 100 times energy growth is a result of cost reductions.
In order to unlock these tremendous renewables, we have to make renewable energy much lower than fossil fuel.
There are two forms of energy. One is electron.
One is molecule. Today, renewable has already won the battle against electricity.
So renewable energy is much lower on making electricity.
But there's still another battle. It's green molecule. is about two or three times more expensive than gray molecules from coal and gas.
We have to make it as cheap as possible, have this cost parity to the grain.
So we should redesign the entire energy system and redesign the equipment, then reduce costs significantly.
So first, we designed an AI-regulated wind turbine, which is able to capture more energy while reducing costs significantly.
We are also designing the world's first hybrid energy storage system. by combining lithium batteries with supercapacitors, is able to support the grid with much less cost.
And we are improving the efficiency of electrolyzers by innovating membranes and electrodes significantly.
In order to make the construction work in the desert much easier, much cheaper, we designed a modular prefabricated hydrogen plant, which makes the construction work in the desert as easy as stacking Legos.
And we are also developing an AI physical model starting from predicting weather, wind and the solar, to manage grid automatically.
So today, we are already achieving the lowest cost of green hydrogen and green ammonia in the world.
But there are still some gaps. I believe within three years, by 2028, we are able to make such cause parity to gray.
Why? I'm so convinced. If you look at the last 20 years, the cost of wind and solar has been reduced 90 percent.
For the last five years, the cost of energy storage has been reduced 90 percent.
At the end of the day, green electricity will still be the majority cost of green hydrogen.
So by combining the significant improvement on the electrolyzer and the hydrogen factory, we are for sure to achieve such a cost parity.
By the time we are achieving cost parity to grade for molecules, it is going to be a milestone for our humanity, because we're going to remove the last bottleneck which is preventing us to unlock tremendous renewable energy.
It's the last bottleneck. It is going to open the gate to tremendous new possibilities.
Just imagine, as we repeated in the history, within the next 100 years, if we are able to use 100 times more energy, how the world will look like.
We are going to harvest the superintelligence with AR data center everywhere.
We are going to desalinate seawater and turn the desert into green oasis.
We are going to remove poverty by producing our food and protein in the basement.
We are going for sure to reverse climate crisis by taking carbon from the air and turning it into building materials.
And We are even able to make interstellar traveling as a daily routine.
So where's the answer? The answer is just right in the heart of the desert, from Sahara in Africa to Middle East.
From Australia to Gobi, there is a hundred times more energy than what we need.
It's infinite, green and free. It's up to our technology.
So, ladies and gentlemen, this natural transition is not a costly burden for us.
It is indeed the one and only pathway for us, for our humanity, to achieve a new great prosperity.
Thank you. Thank you. That was Lei Zhang speaking at TED Countdown Summit Nairobi in Kenya in 2025.
If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines.
And that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective.
This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsica Sarmarnivon.
It was mixed by Christopher Fasey-Bogan.
Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo.
I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.
Thanks for listening. This is Paige, the co-host of Giggly Squad.
I use Uber Eats for everything, and I feel like people forget that you can truly order anything, especially living in New York City.
It's why I love it. You can get Chinese food at any time of night, but it's not just for food.
I order from CVS all the time. I'm always ordering from the grocery store.
If a friend stops over, I have to order champagne.
I also have this thing that whenever I travel, if I'm ever in a hotel room, I never feel like I'm missing something because I'll just Uber Eats it.
The amount of times I've had to Uber Eats hair items like hairspray, deodorant, you name it, I've ordered it on Uber Eats.
You can get grocery, alcohol, everyday essentials in addition to restaurants and food you love.
So in other words, get almost anything with Uber Eats.
Order now for alcohol. You must be legal drinking age.
Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region.
See app for details. What's up? It's Sean Linda from Two Black Guys with Good Credit.
If managed supply runs is still on your to-do list, here's your science upgrade.
Walmart Business has the tech, tools, and services that make it ridiculously easy to stock up for your office or team.
Think scheduled deliveries, multi-user accounts, and even IT setup.
Bonus, with a Walmart Business Plus membership, you get free shipping, spend analytics, and 2% rewards.
Join the smart way to shop at business.walmart.com.
Terms apply. Ready to elevate your everyday?
Quince has the luck staples insiders swear by, minus the markup.
From 100% European linen styles and 14-carat gold jewelry to gorgeous leather bags and elevated home finds, Quince has it all.
And by partnering directly with top artisans and ethical factories, Quince delivers premium quality at half the cost of similar brands.
Discover everyday luxury without the markup at Quince.
Go to quince.com slash style upgrade for free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash style upgrade
