Revolutionizing the Energy Industry: Ambri’s Liquid Metal Batteries and the Path to a Sustainable Future

2023-08-13 12:19:10
Nowadays, one of the main topics in the news is energy-related matters, the production of clean energy or energy efficiency. However, most game-changing ideas don’t really amount to anything. Maybe the given energy production idea is too expensive, maybe it is technologically unfeasible, maybe there is a problem with its mass production. Multi-layer solar cells, the extraction of wave energy or the use of hydrogen as fuel have already reached the stage where we know and see that they work. But the breakthrough did not happen. Quite simply, our current main sources of energy are still cheaper, simpler and proven. According to Ambri, their battery will be competitive in a few years The new big idea came from a startup called Ambri. Liquid metal batteries will start providing energy to users next year. Lithium-ion batteries cost about US$405 to produce one kilowatt hour of energy. Ambri promises the same performance for half the price. Making a liquid metal battery is also easier than using metal electrodes melted into lithium and a molten salt electrolyte. Besides the cost, its advantage is that it is more durable, non-flammable and does not lose its effectiveness over time. According to the company’s tests, such a battery still retains 95% of its capacity after 20 years. But of course, this is also too good to be true, since there is also a very serious bottleneck in the story. Antimony is needed in large quantities to produce such a battery. Half of the world’s antimony production is in China, and 40% is in Russia and Tajikistan, which belongs to the Russian sphere of interest. Plus, even if Ambri can produce the batteries for $180 per kilowatt hour, they need to bring the price down to at least $20 to be competitive. The company now estimates that this cost limit will be reached around 2030. Published on the BitcoinBázis page.
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