alphabet wants to fix renewable energy’s storage problem — with salt - electrical energy storage systems

Alphabet Inc.
The mysterious X Skunk Works has another idea to save the world.
The name is Malta, which contains a lot of salt and antifreeze.
The research lab began developing a system that stores renewable energy almost a decade ago, which would otherwise be wasted.
It can be located almost anywhere with a potentially longer life span than lithium
According to X executives and researchers, ion batteries and competing prices with new water power plants and other existing clean energy storage methods.
Previously undisclosed plans are part of a handful of energy projects, satx, which has a complex track record with bold "Moon Landing" such as Google Glass and drone delivery.
Venture capitalists and more governments have cut funding and support for technology and businesses that build around alternatives to fossil fuels. X's clean-
Energy projects have not yet been as popular as driverless cars, but the lab has not given up.
"If the lunar plant abandons a big and important issue like climate change, then maybe it will never be solved," said Obi Felten, director of X . ".
"If we start to solve this problem, the market opportunity will reach trillions of dollars.
"She runs a foundry where a team of less than 10 researchers in Malta trained a stripped-out persondownprototype.
This is part of X's attempt to turn the laboratory of experimental science into a complete
Mature projects of emerging business models, such as the Internetbeaming high-
High-altitude balloons.
There is no formal X project yet in Malta, but it has been "canceled.
At the risk of "enough, the team is now looking for partners to build, operate and connect a business-
The size prototype of the grid, Felten says.
This means that Alphabet may cooperate or compete with industrial giants such as Siemens and ABB Co. , Ltd.
And General Electric.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, X is entering a market that will invest about $40 billion by 2024.
BNEF estimates that energy last year was about 790 megawatts, and the overall capacity is expected to reach 45 gigawatts in seven years.
The existing grid is struggling with renewable energy, a headache that drives demand for new storage methods.
Solar panels and wind farms generate energy at noon and at night when demand is stagnant.
This power uses stripping technology to benefit more predictable oil and coal plants and more controllable gas "peaker" plants.
In the first half of this year, California solar panels and wind farms produced 300,000 MW of solar energy because there is no good way to store solar energy.
This is enough to support thousands of families.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, about 4% of wind energy from Germany was abandoned at 2015.
China has thrown more than 17 percentage points.
Feltenis is particularly excited about working with Chinese companies, a greedy energy consumer ---
Almost all Google Web services are banned.
Prior to this, the Malta team had to turn the current early test prototype in the Silicon Valley warehouse into the final product that could be manufactured, large enough and reliable for utilities to plug it into the grid.
In the renderings seen by Bloomberg News, the system looks like a small power plant with four cylindrical tanks connected to the heat pump through pipes.
X says its size can vary from the approximate size of a large garment to the size of a full garment
Expand the scale of traditional power plants, provide on-demand energy for large industrial facilities, and provide data centers or storage for small wind farms and solar installations.
The system mixes established technologies with newly designed components.
"From a very simple point of view, it's a refrigerator and a jet," said Julian Green, product manager in Malta . ".
Two cans of salt and two cans of antifreeze or hydrocarbon liquid.
The system absorbs energy in the form of electricity, turning it into a separation of hot and cold air.
Hot air heats up salt when cold air cools antifreeze, a bit like a refrigerator.
Jet engine part: flip switch, process reversal.
Hot and cold air streams rush over each other to generate strong gusts, and spina turbine and spout power when the grid is needed.
Salt keeps it at temperature, so the system can store energy for hours or even days depending on how insulated you are from the tank.
Scientists have proved that this is a viable storage technology.
Malta's contribution is the design na system that operates at lower temperatures, so there is no need for specialized expensive ceramics and steel.
Careful physics of thermodynamics
"People who study it in college know it," said Green . ".
"The trick is to do it with cheap materials at the right temperature.
This is very striking.
"X declined to say exactly how cheap its materials are. Thermal salt-
Storage based could be several times cheaper than lithium
Ion batteries and other existing power grids
Raj Apte, chief engineer of Malta, said the expansion of storage technology.
Siemens, a German engineering company, is also developing salt storage systems for its solar cells. thermal plants. Butlithium-
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the price of ion batteries is falling rapidly.
Malta has to deal with low oil and gas prices, a market reality that has left several companies working on alternatives to fossil fuels bankrupt.
"It's possible to compete with lithium --
Yayoi Sekine, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said.
"But emerging technologies have to face many challenges.
"One obstacle is to convince energy companies to invest their capital in a project that has potential returns for many years to come.
The balance sheet inspires confidence with $95 billion in cash and equivalents.
However, the tech giant has recently had a history of withdrawing or suspending experimental projects that have deviated from its core areas of high-tech technology.
Power Computing and software.
Nobel Prize winner Robert Laughlin
His research laid the foundation for Malta and is now a consultant for the project.
He met with X delegates at a meeting a few years ago.
They discussed the idea and the lab finally decided to fund the project and set up a small team to execute it.
Laurin, who has signed the design of the team, says his theory has been working on prototypes.
Laughlin believes X is more engaged than potential supporters before.
He first referred ideaas to his startup and recommended it to well-known tech investors including Khosla Ventures and Peter Thiel Founder's Fund.
According to the scientist, they passed because they didn't want to deal with the more demanding demands of an energy-efficient energy industry that ultimately has to buy and use the system.
"We're talking about engines and oil companies ---
Big dinosaurs with long teeth, "said Laughlin.
This is "higher than the salary level of the people here.
A representative of the Founder's Fund declined to comment.
Khosla did not respond to requests for comment.
So far, X won't say how much it has invested, but it's enough for Laughlin.
"A blessing came from the sky," he said . ".
"X came in and took a bite from this question.
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