Growing Batteries - Wood Battery Explained

[@UndecidedMF]

Do you think looking for alternate bio-based solutions is where batteries are heading? The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 20% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided. If you liked this video, check out How Solar Panels Can Help Solve California’s Drought kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnS1iWVpZ7ueeM0

[@LiftPizzas]

They float on water and we can build a bridge out of them.

[@digiryde]

I think batteries are headed in many directions. I do not perceive any technology that could provide all requirements for all battery situations, power, weight, price, recharge rate, etc. Each new technology opens up more viable uses for batteries. I think we still need more options. Maybe some day, a Shipstone Battery will be invented (see Robert Heinlein, "Friday"). Until then, we will have to have many variations in batteries with different sets of engineering trade-offs. I am fairly certain that we are only scratching the surface of what is possible with power storage at the moment. Chemical power storage is incredibly limited when you compare that to the power stored in sub-atomic particles per unit area. The questions are how do you get it out and how do you recharge it. We are still in our societal infancy in understanding the quantum world, but that world is what powers the universe.

[@jjamespacbell]

That was quite a hit job on the lithium manufacturing process how about balancing that compared to the fossil fuel industry, including images from the Gulf war, sea birds covered in oil when ships sink or BP oil rigs leak, the methane leaks from abandoned gas wells.

[@ralphnolletti9988]

As a professional Arborist/ Nurseryman I find this exciting as I see the literal mountain of wood waste every day.

[@soybean7312]

This technology is great, but do we really need battery storage in our future? I don't think so. I am looking at a tiny piece of solar lens a size of a piece of a rice sitting next to the camera lens on the back of a cellphone that is good enough to collecting all the energy it needs to powering up a cell phone. A bigger piece of solar lens for the laptop computer, tablet, electric vehicle, and all the lighting it needed for the heating of a family home, warehouse. Where there is light, either it is from a piece of burning wood or from the sun. Solar panel is the way to go in our future. Our scientists need to focusing more on the solar panel development.

[@jopo7996]

I hope this doesn't end up being pulp fiction.

[@UndecidedMF]

Slow clap ... well done. 👏

[@Aaron_b_c]

Ayyyoooh

[@minkuanlau1]

Pulp friction is a 🎥🍿

[@El_Stipe]

Let’s knock on wood that this progresses

[@markus_selloi]

Fucking genius

[@MerrickKing]

This is rapidly becoming the "new battery technology" channel and I am 100% okay with that :') Seriously interesting stuff

[@Professor-Scientist]

As a professor in battery technology I can confirm all information is correct and that you Sir, should have a good day.

[@daviddrake5991]

He might be trying to charge up his ratings. Or trying to give us all a jolt. I'll see myself out.

[@christo930]

NO! It's becoming repetitive! There are literally a MILLION other things which affect us in our daily lives. Imagine hearing about a new laundry detergent that has measurably less impact on the wearing out of your clothes. Or a new type of eye glass material. Improvements in the UV protection of stuff we have to put in the sun or in our cars. Literally millions.

[@johndoh5182]

Battery technology is THE technology right now that will affect our world the most. Scientists and companies and govts and colleges all know this so the amount of battery research going on around the world is very large, probably so much so that most people don't release how much time, effort and money is going into research because every technology that works well as a solution is billions of dollars when it scales.

[@JoachimVampire]

@@christo930 i guess you should watch the videos because either you didn't (understandably) or didn't pay enough attention. battery technology is life changing for the entire world. laundry is meaningless but batteries aren't, specially nowadays that fusion is proven to be viable. imagine being able to feed the entire world electricity but instead of "rationing it" in a buffer you trash it because you don't have the way to store it... imagine the world where batteries don't blow up because the phones go a touch too hot... imagine the world where batteries don't contamine and are cheap AF because they are made out of mundane materials. i understand that's a bit too much for some people and i do agree that he could do a shorter video containing various kinds of batteries where he explains the tech behind and the possible uses. laundry detergent is pointless because clothes are affordable. UV protection is.. pointless. if you talk about objects that get damaged by UV.. that would come too damn expensive (and pointless again) imagine a plastic that even the most powerful waves from the sun can't break down ever... talking about pollution... and if you talk about yourself (humans in general) you don't really need UV protection. your body can handle that with extreme easy. except when the ozone layer went to shit because we used tech that polluted like mad, but thankfully that issue is already taken care..

[@stephentroake7155]

Nice one. Stora has existed as a company since the 13th century, due, it seems, to its flexible approach. It started out as a copper mine, but later switched to paper making. It's great to see that they're still innovating.

[@UndecidedMF]

Talk about an evolving company ... it's impressive.

[@MattBellzminion]

@@UndecidedMF It just keeps branching out...

[@platinumsky845]

@@MattBellzminion nice

[@aperinich]

where can I read about this company's long history ?

[@zibbitybibbitybop]

Now THIS is the type of design thinking that I think we need more of, in which we look for ways to use the waste products of existing processes to solve some other problem. Hoping this works at scale, it'd be way more resource-efficient than mining new crap all the time.

[@melchormodales5828]

Yeah, good encouragement towards industrial efficiency!

[@nogasgofast7665]

It seems better, but for one thing. If this solution uses 7 times more material or battery, then it also has to be 1/7th the cost. Half the price of the alternative won't work without something else to even out the playing field. But it seems a little too early to know the real cost based on this video.

[@Thinginator]

You might find the Trabant interesting, it was an east-German car built during extreme metal rationing, so to build bodywork without metal they created a material called Duroplast which was made from wasted cotton and surplus chemicals for resin, so the bodywork on the car was made almost entirely out of recycled materials. Duroplast was lightweight and strong, and didn't rust or rot, though it also doesn't biodegrade at all so all the bodies of those cars are still around even if the chassis and whatnot are long gone. Still an interesting recycled material though!

[@swolebro]

I'm pretty certain trees are already batteries. Solar energy comes in, then it gets stored as chemical energy for later. They even have sustainably-sourced solar panels built in!

[@one_field]

Exactly! And highly efficient woodstoves are great at extracting that energy.

[@itoothitooth4943]

So long as “man” stops cutting them down.

[@NathanHedglin]

@@itoothitooth4943 we replant them in developed countries.

[@one_field]

@@itoothitooth4943 Coppicing is the best answer; cut deciduous trees on a regular schedule during dormant seasons, and they grow back straight, faster and with denser wood while keeping the root system alive and healthy. It's been in use for 6,000 years that we can document but probably longer. Trees that are carefully coppiced become practically immortal because they never reach the imbalance stage of senescence where trunk girth exceeds sapwood's capacity to efficiently cover it. In other words, the trees stay juvenile forever. The soil remains undisturbed, with healthy root systems and microbial colonies in place. The ecosystem experiences maximum biodiversity (with "patch" and edge habitats rotating cyclically), supporting species that have evolved alongside this practice, like the nightingale songbird. Sustainable forestry is the most regenerative fuel source and carbon capture technology yet explored. It's already practiced in many countries, as it has been since the Neolithic period. We just need to regulate the industry so that all logging returns to coppicing.

[@itoothitooth4943]

@@one_field agree 100% Wish Brazil would do this!!

[@johngarth1]

I've just stumbled onto your channel. I really like the way you take a neutral position giving pros and cons for each topic you bring. I will be following and sharing.

[@UndecidedMF]

Glad you found the channel!

[@commonsense.1014]

I also recommend Diy with will prowse

[@John.0z]

There are several strands to the anti-renewable energy push - and the nature of the minerals used is most certainly a prominent subject in that push. I agree that there is no single technology to meet all the battery needs we have, and if a technology like this can have good enough storage density, and acceptable cost of manufacture, while also being somewhat benign to the environment, then that cannot help but be part of the overall solution.

[@melchormodales5828]

Good to have more options on renewable sources of energy.

[@diablo.the.cheater]

@Sebastian Hahn the problem tho is that windmill and solar beat in price the syntetical fuel combustible and nuclear by a factor of 10

[@Jermain-cz4bh]

i can imagine angry oil companies are also a big part of the anti renewable energy push

[@John.0z]

@@Jermain-cz4bh But of course Jermain.

[@ulforcemegamon3094]

@Sebastian Hahn to solidify your argument even more , we should take in count that Solar panels and Wind Turbines are extremely subsidized in most countries , something that studies regarding the price of Solar and Wind vs other technologies never take into account , i remember reading an article talking about that 3/4 of the price of the energy that Solar produces is subsized by the goverment , meaning that without goverment subsidy Solar would be ALOT more expensive , now imagine how the case it Will be with Wind Turbines

[@aaronhill5908]

They appear to be barking up the right tree with this idea. Let’s see if it sticks. Hopefully they can branch out to a variety of use cases since it’s sounds like it won’t end up in our trunk anytime soon. I’ll log off for now.

[@Hexcede]

This was a tree't.

[@markkoons7488]

Your channel beats the stuffing out of the competition "covering" alternative energy. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@Cliffdog01]

I wonder, is there a future where these paper-thin style batteries (like how the Lab battery was printed to paper) could go into Solar Panel manufacturing so that every individual solar cell has batteries underneath it? Instead of buying the Panels and batteries seperate, you'll have combo panels that release the power all day and night.

[@mrspeigle1]

It's a cool idea, but there's a issue with the efficiency. Tldr is the more panels you have the less batteries you need for a given storage unit. Tony seba is a good Google search

[@mfb424]

Around 2014 this kind of innovation was applied for a patent. Single layer bi-polar separator coated LFP cell with polymer electrolyte (which standa high temperature) laminated in the PV panel frame in a way where silicon cells are 7 in series to provide 3,5V charging voltage for the li-ion cell. Li-ion cells (4 or 8) were the connected to series with BMS and DC chopper switch to do SOC matching. I hope this was not too messy explanation. 😅

[@janami-dharmam]

@@mrspeigle1 batteries are like capacitors; they store charge but in the form of chemical reaction. It is certainly possible to have a supercap of the size of the solar panel that can supply reasonable power day and night.

[@victorhopper6774]

a good panl lasts over 25 years so nope

[@wrenmoliner9353]

“Battery capacity doesn’t just grow on trees!” “Hold my beer”

[@abyssstrider2547]

Hold my wood.

[@bobnelsonfr]

"It seems like there's a new technology every week ." Yes, and some of them will click. Thanks, Matt, for keeping us up to date.

[@UndecidedMF]

👍

[@andoletube]

Feels like none of them will because they always get dropped for the next, more promising hope on the horizon. A bit like the cure for insulin dependent diabetes. Always 5-10 years away.

[@bobnelsonfr]

@@andoletube Yes, that's frustrating. OTOH, I watch BOTH sides of the Atlantic, so I'm seeing more kinda sorta moderately priced EVs. ON SALE to real customers. America is perpetually in a "bigger is better" rut. Compromise is a dirty word. The second half of the 19th century must have felt like this, with each new technology destroying the previous.

[@tonydeveyra4611]

Pyrolysis is the magic that makes a thousand different materials. There was a researcher looking at making these out of hemp too. The woody chips of the hemp plant have a lot of micro pores so after its pyrolyzed you have a lot of places for electrons to go

[@wescarmichael6587]

I hope they find a faster growing medium than trees. I’m no scientist by any stretch of the imagination. I wonder if bamboo would work. It’s extremely fast growing and abundant.

[@laughinggas5281]

@@wescarmichael6587 hemp and bamboo both have lignin. However, the lignin they are talking about exists as a waste product already.

[@wescarmichael6587]

@@laughinggas5281 thanks 🙏

[@Babarudra]

That paper based battery sounds like a good opportunity for life rafts on ships. As soon as it hits the water the battery gets power and you could get light and send EPIRB signal/phone.

[@Trojansteel-hh5xd]

They already have them for lights on life jackets.

[@fionafiona1146]

Admittedly there extraction methods of lithium without that water impact (being scaled in Germany) Also I think a large share of lithium deployed in Germany is on track to be recycled indefinitely

[@wlhgmk]

Also, if you char lignite(or any other organic material) the gasses that come off are a combination of cooking gas, gasoline, diesel, airline fuel and right on up to road tar. They can be separated by a standard fractionation column such as is used in petroleum refineries

[@Treksh]

With how good bio tools are becoming I wouldn't be surprised to see living batteries within my lifetime.

[@tomizatko3138]

Yes, they are called extremely efficient genetically engineered fat cells that store most of our energy for billions of years. And are high density , cost effective, space efficient, ling lasting. 😉😂

[@Treksh]

@@tomizatko3138 lol, if only they could be mass-produced and had a good energy efficiency for storing electric charge.

[@dapsychokilla]

sounds like the matrix

[@BitterTast3]

What are bio tools? What's an example?

[@andoletube]

@@tomizatko3138 I resemble that remark!

[@frankbauerful]

This printable battery sounds like the perfect solution for those electronic greeting cards that start singing when you open them.

[@jvin248]

Rather than wood -- faster growing with lower resource requirements in a chase for Lignin include bamboo, miscanthus giganteus (bread for more growth control or the invasive fast growing Chinese Silvergrass used as suburban ornamental), sorghum, and corn stalks.

[@TheIgle]

But by providing an alternative to burning the lignin that is created as a by-product from paper you can encourage more green friendly energy sources. These by-products will continue to exist. There is no reason to avoid using them in a way that is better than just burning them

[@neutronpcxt372]

This video is actually reminding me of the study that I found a few weeks ago about how various lignin based components in a lithium-ion cell could improve their performance in all ways(capacity, power density and cycle life) over traditional cell components, such as the separator and electrolyte. You could also get a lignin based binder, which has massively improved cycle life, but at a large energy density cost.

[@TheBakedalaskajoe]

Wooden shoes... Wooden skyscrapers and now wooden batteries. That is awesome. I hope it works.

[@UndecidedMF]

It'll be interesting to see how this evolves.

[@rojavabashur6455]

@@UndecidedMF The city where Northvolt is building its gigafactory Skellefteå also have a wooden skyscraper Sara Kulturhus.

[@AmiGanguli]

Cool stuff. I think it makes a lot of sense that these technologies will coexist, serving different use-cases. What makes sense depends on the financial details. Provided they're cheap enough to produce and recycle, grid storage can tolerate really low performance batteries. It all comes down to cost and sustainability.

[@mfb424]

For grid storage the most important properties are: 1. Reliability 2. Efficiency 3. Cost to make and operate 4. Raw material abundancy 5. High scale manufacturability

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

Matt, this is a great channel. Your reporting on cutting edge technology keeps me informed and inspired.

[@UndecidedMF]

Glad you enjoy it! Thanks.

[@melchormodales5828]

@@UndecidedMF I enjoy it too! Thanks a lot Matt.

[@aeonspast]

All of these different battery technologies is incredibly interesting and leaves me optimistic that one if not more will stick. And despite this not being viable for electric vehicles, if any of this "works on a large scale like backup power storage for the grid" technologies bears fruit, it will lessen the overall need for Lithium which is a big win. I just hope we keep on this path and some if not all of these alternatives make their way to market.

[@DoctorX17]

I think it’s important that we explore as many sustainable technologies as possible. I don’t think there will ever be a perfect battery for all applications - and seeing as how NiCAD and NiMH have continued to exist along lithium batteries, I think that’s evidence of such. Those biodegradable ones would particularly be great for disposable things like vapes, which people tend to throw on the ground when they run out…

[@jannepeltonen2036]

This all sounds very exciting, but I have an issue with "sustainably grown Nordic forests" after just reading an editorial in the largest newspaper here in Finland taking the stand that the problem we have about our forests having turned from net carbon sinks into net carbon sources due to accelerating deforestation and unsustainable forestry practices - taking the stand that this must be dealt with, and quickly.

[@mirjam3553]

Hear hear! A field of (same age, same species of) trees does not a forest make. (We have this problem big time just south of you.) I saw a comment upwards of here that talked about getting the lignin from bamboo, sorghum, corn instead.

[@Adrian-qk2fn]

@@mirjam3553 As I understand it, one of the main sources for Lignum is that it is a waste product produced by the Paper Making Industry. As this is already being burned, thus increasing CO2 emissions then, by using the Lignum to make anodes you are killing two birds with one stone: Using a waste product that would otherwise be disposed of and reducing CO2 emissions at the same time. As for sustainable forestry prectices I agree with you. The UK carried out a massive planting effort for Evergreen timbers to fulfill a perceived need after World War 2, cutting down a lot of our native tree species at the same time. Now, that need has disappeared but we are left with the ecological effects of it which will be with us for centuries. We have to be very careful what we do to avoid disturbing the natural ecological balance of a region- and we should remember that different regions have different balances.

[@mirjam3553]

@@Adrian-qk2fn The fact that it's made from paper mill waste products is good, but... Right here right now, the demand for the lowest grades of lumber (for paper products and for pellets) far surpasses the regrowth rate of our local forests and has resulted in legally grey felling practices at best. (Because pellets used in home furnaces are technically a renewable resource etc., the demand is huge, the profits are big and so on.) If these industries get any _more_ help, for example additional sellable products (now this paper mill can sell something it used to have to dispose of), prices and profits will increase even further, incentivizing more clear-cutting etc. Basically, we're here rapidly slipping into the bit of the equation that you were at after WW2 and I think it's easier to prevent than deal with the consequences down the line. (But then again, those won't hit in the next election cycle so... *shrug*)

[@MrSpritzmeister]

Previously I’ve read from that same newpaper that the biomass and the area of forest cover is growing in Finland, thanks to forest management practices and longer growing season.

[@ScottiStudios]

Great video as always. I can imagine you choose you a topic based on 50% how interesting it is and the other 50% how many puns you can add to your script based on that topic 😆👍

[@Elitemusicman1]

Flower Power!

[@UndecidedMF]

🌸⚡

[@AnilKumar-jd7ut]

I have worked on hard carbon based sodium ion battery it has worked but not as efficient as lithium but it can improve and plus it's less polluting than lithium ion battery!

[@adr2t]

Well I mean if they can lower from 2$ to 1$ that cuts half of half the battery cost right there. The other half could be cut down using salt or suf that also reduces the cost by 30% - meaning we could see batters cost as much as 70% less would be pretty big deal even if they don't hold as much charge per weight/volume. That would be REALLY good for grid storage to the point that instead of installing new power plants - we could just instead install new battery plants. With that said - I am a bit confuse - you you talk about how Lignin charges faster by being random - while graphitic is more layer design - yet some how it holds less? Wouldnt that mean we would want a mix of the two instead? One that allow for faster charging by mixing in like 1/x over the graphitic to increase storage by lowering the over all cost? Even at something of a cost savings of 20% would still lead to cheaper storage + faster charging that the grid needs would be a good balance between the two.

[@PinskiYT]

If they could improve the wh/kg that would be great for using less materials for energy stored 40wh/kg is quite low

[@TimbrrWolfe]

As someone who tries to exclusively use sustainable resources in Minecraft (including making charcoal out of tree blocks instead of digging for coal) I'm all for the idea of wood batteries. Obviously real life is different than Minecraft, and there's almost definitely not a cascading solution like one piece of charcoal being able to make 8 more, but the more fuel and materials we can make out of renewable sources the better.

[@Xero1of1]

3:42 When working for Milwaukee Tool in the battery R&D department, we purposely overloaded tools with batteries installed and batteries by themselves. We had to put them into well ventilated, concrete- and bulletproof glass-encased rooms, with a little tiny tube to run all of our testing wires through. When one of those things went off, you felt the heat THROUGH the bulletproof glass... it's kind of insane. Also... don't let your Li-Ion batteries recharge and sit on the charger for long periods of time in sub-zero (°C) temperatures. The cold reduces the energy storage, but the charger may recognize this as the battery being undercharged, so it tries to put in more charge which could overload the battery causing a thermal runaway event. Keep your batteries warm as best as you can and try not to force too much power out of them when they're cold until they've warmed up a bit. Just some helpful tips... :D

[@davejack8973]

another amazing and FULL OF INFORMATION VIDEO . as always thanks to Matt and the rest of the team !

[@UndecidedMF]

Thanks as always for watching/commenting, Dave.

[@Steven.Stovall]

Quick and to the point. My first thought was... "Wait... Wood is more of a resistor than a conductor.". I finished watching it and it seems impressive.

[@simonreeves2017]

Hi Matt, greetings from the U.K.! What a fascinating concept - it almost seems too good to be true. I will be watching this story with huge interest. Thanks for all your research on the technologies of tomorrow.

[@stevedavies2712]

I am looking at options in the UK

[@leebuckley7436]

If they go into production, keep them away from Samsung. Woods flammable and they've already had issues with their phones power supply. 🔋🔥

[@curiodyssey3867]

Wow that was ...what 10 years ago? Man I think at the very least they have proved beyond a doubt that is no longer an issue....

[@pauloazuela8488]

Ah you know the issue was that they're not actually using Lithium-Ion. But a battery that is still Lithium but still uses another component on it , which is less resistant than standard lithium ions. I don't see the point of it since this new tech is cheaper so there's no need to compromise. People like you will only spread misinformation

[@kurosakiichigo5067]

Yes, but their batteries still have a tendency to expand and push open the back of the phone. Mrwhosetheboss made a great video on the topic.

[@leebuckley7436]

@@curiodyssey3867 indeed they have. It was a tongue in cheek poke at their past history is all 😋

[@charizard69420]

this is really interesting... many paper mills have shut down since paper use has gone down. We could bring these plants back on line to 1) produce more cellulose products in order to replace plastics and 2) use the lignin byproduct for battery anode. Also the old mills, with their roll-style assembly lines, might be amenable to conversion into roll-style battery anode printing... another benefit is, since paper mills have historically been built at hydroelectric power sources, there would be extra-resilience of such "battery mills" grid outages since hydroelectric could serve as a backup

[@WomanSlayer69420]

Everyone gangsta until “Quicken, Aggravate, Spread” shows up when you power something on.

[@DanielSalley3D]

Your content is some of the best stuff on KZbin (seriously), but your jokes are the best stuff in the world..

[@ztornow]

I’m from a paper mill town in Wisconsin. Stora used to be here and then left. Now the mill sits there unused. This may be an interesting spin on an old industry that would bring those jobs back

[@denvera1g1]

I've been working on a Lignin-Manganate battery Hopefully, in about 6.9 years, we'll be using LigMa batteries

[@xXJNTXx]

who is steve jobs?

[@JustAnotherSeeker]

Bio-based solutions could potentially be great. Imagine bio-based graphene supercapacitors. Using trees however is a terrible idea when we could be using Hemp instead.

[@tomclayton6875]

Cost effectiveness, improved storage, safety, applications. Sounds like a winner to me.

[@deawinter]

In all seriousness your channel has changed how I think about sustainability. I think about what things are made of now; how the things I consume got to me; where the electricity in my house is coming from. We have this incredible miracle of infrastructure all around us, and we resist thinking - because it is terrifying to do so - is this sustainable? Can we keep doing what we are doing? Am I passing the mess that my parents gave me on to my own children? Even though I didn’t design and in many ways can’t affect the infrastructure and technology I see all around me, I SEE it now in a way I didn’t before. And maybe I can find a way to affect it after all.

[@janisvaskevics93]

Thanks for laying out info in a comprehensible way! I recommend your channel to my friends that speak english and need more info about energy.

[@UndecidedMF]

Awesome, thank you!

[@izerochan]

Every time you do a video on a new battery technology I get especially excited. I don't think any single one of them will be the solution we need, but rather all the new battery techs together will eventually help us solve our energy storage issues in a sustainable way.

[@kdm1234gmail]

wow thats amazing. I have never heard anything about anything like this. Its good to see their moving in a greener direction. I also love the idea of using "garbage" to make a fancy product. I love doing similar here. human impact in the area had degraded the natural processes that were responsible for helping break down course woody debris and in turn caused more build up and fire hazards. Well reducing soil quality. So when we moved into great grandmothers house after her passing. I used natural processes to work to build soil and encourage natural processes. As well as removing excess debris from the woods and helping it break down into its base materials and returning it. As to help nature build itself back up. The difference is phenomenal as I do little bits of input. The diversity of plants increases each year and worms are returning and growing in large numbers. Which has brought back birds and other wild animals. Who's natural actions work in junction with the forest and helped it grow so strong

[@CarlStreet]

VERY impressed with sourcing lignin as a waste product of the paper industry. "Garbage is just resources we are too stupid to utilize yet" -- Buckminster Fuller echoes loudly here. Thanks for all your hard work and creative insight.

[@haroldwestrich3312]

I rarely comment on your videos; Just want to let you know it's because you are very thorough and cover all of the questions most people would want to ask. Bravo On ALL of your videos and Thank YOU For being YOU ! ! !

[@SunRabbit]

Here in northern Europe where it's cold most of the time you quickly get used to keeping your camera inside your jacket and not in your bag if you want it to work outside.

[@melchormodales5828]

I think wood-based battery will work as its carbon material which comes from trees is renewable! Plus its added social benefit on fostering tree planting which is, for me, truly environmental and social-friendly! Thanks.

[@trysin4704]

Matt definitely had fun with his puns in this one.

[@CowboybubPercussion]

I would usually say you are right in turning the lignin into a battery grade carbon, however, the process in manufacturing produces a byproduct called Syngas, which can definitely be used to produce electricity by running in an engine or many other things

[@nathanwest2304]

U run my 3d Printer with some solar panels and old car batteries most lead acid batteries can be revived by just topping them off with a bit of destilled water if they are maintenance free you neeed to make a small opening for that I simply used a soldering iron to melt a small hole roughly 1cm below the seem where the lid is welded on and filled destilled water until something came back out, wipe it dry, melt it shut and it's good to go with 2 different battery testers I get some batteries that get the original ratings, hence why the battery currently in my car is an old battery I revived this way not saying this is the solution for the big storage issues, but it is a way for folks at home to reduce their energy consumption from the grid

[@Muppetkeeper]

I saw a company researching wood pulp for flow batteries sometime in the past, looks like you can grow batteries on trees.

[@wlhgmk]

Note that the antimony contaminant is one of the metals used in the Ambri liquid metal battery. Perhaps it could be recovered for this purpose, at the same time eliminating the contamination.

[@travismoore7849]

Wood with the brown part removed could be used for a prussian blue solar battery that uses wood as a charge seperator for the solar battery while being transparent to allow the battery to recharge.

[@Bora_H]

At last, we here in the woods of Maine will become the top technology hot spot!

[@raullasvegas]

I was thinking the same thing with Northern Michigan.

[@tabula_rosa]

one important note about integrating wood into a manufacturing process is that industrially used wood doesn't come from wild forests. old growth forests have a lot of variation in the age & size of their trees which runs up the operating cost of accommodating large trees into their supply chain, & then you run out of old growth and all of that money spent on upsizing your facilities is wasted anyway. so they use nurseries to grow trees in batches which allows them to A) harvest them really cheaply (dont have to go looking for them / go farther every time), & 2) produce trees of a really consistent (& maximum) size which allows you to tighten the allowances on your facilities because of this industrial application of wood actually increases the amount of trees, not reduces it (this doesn't apply to housebuilding, at least in the US homeowners love to have their shitty house built out of a thousnad year old sequoya)

[@RasmusSchultz]

If the lignin is $1/kg and lithium is $2/kg, but the energy storage density of lithium is 4 times higher... doesn't that mean lignin in practice is twice as expensive?

[@syrthdr09sybr34]

Glad you touched on the negative side of lithium and the devastating effects of mining it.

[@sig861]

I love this type of thinking. I am sure there must be other industries out there that can take a look at what there out going wast is and make use of it

[@Request_2_PANic]

With so many ones so far, I'm honestly not sure which is the most ideal. The one with the most recharge cycles and energy density should be the one to take the place of what's currently used for consumer batteries like AA, AAA, C, D, and 9-volt, if not EVs.

[@sebastianstewart6894]

Lignin can be found in all plant matter. What that means is organic waste can be used as well.

[@reinerhoffmann3764]

Hallo Mat , there is a german company, which also uses lignin . The name of the company is cmblue. You will find information about them in youtube. They build liquid solid flow batteries in different sizes. They are right now testing them in a powerplant near frankfurt and in a storage solution in austria in burgenland. They have founded a company to build their batteries in california. Their product has reached a good stage of experience and is going into mass production right now. Greetings from Bavaria

[@RichardBronosky]

Their next generation Ligna Johnson innovation is going to be huge!

[@draconariousthegamer1444]

I don't know if we're so lucky, but we do NEED something like this. We CANNOT be eternally reliant on mined materials.

[@mrbyamile6973]

At 1:50 I get that you say we loose hundreds of thousands of gallons of water but its just being evaporated. Technically its being converted to pure water back into the atmosphere where I'm sure it soon precipitates back out. Its not like its waste water that has to be permanently disposed of like nuclear waste.

[@NerfThisBoardGames]

Charge faster, increase battery longevity. Bigger batteries but cheaper and less risky, so smart grid local storage. I think this would be very interesting if a battery the size of a motorcycle or a car, could power my house and be recharged well through a days worth of solar charge

[@ScottiStudios]

As far as energy density goes, I wonder if mixing lignin and graphite together (or in two layers) would effect the charging rate / energy density?

[@blue_beephang-glider5417]

Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you and your family Matt. Many thanks for all the informative videos you have entertained us with, Blue

[@alanwhite4427]

Happy new year 🎈. I loved all your videos over the years, keep up the good work. All the best from Ireland 🇮🇪.

[@UndecidedMF]

Thank you and happy new year to you too!

[@NiyaKouya]

Even if they have lower storage density (which will most likely rise as the tech gets refined), they still sound like a decent alternative to LiIon for stationary (grid-scale) battery setups. Especially if they have a wider range of operation temperatures (without massive capacity losses).

[@gr8potatosaurusofthunderfart]

Farmer 1: I have a small farm farmer 2: Oh you're a farmer too?... what do grow? Farmer 1: Mostly batteries

[@revparisking]

I like the idea of this. I know this is probably put there but is there a difference in the types of wood they could use. I only say this, being a novice woodworker, that I use specific woods when looking at different builds. Soft woods vs hard woods. Slow growers that produce a lot tighter grain vs a fast grower that shows a greater ring separation. Even when doing Shou Sugi Ban that involves burning or charing the wood, different woods react differently to the char. Again, I'm sure this is a non starter but my thought process is if say poplar ends up being the best wood to use for conductivity, that would be the added bonus of a tree that has an annual growth rate of 10 feet a year. A lot more than a lot of other trees out there making sustainability even greater.

[@c.t.murray3632]

This is very exciting having a waste product from making paper turn into a replacement for graphite. I think I'll start investing in paper mills, encourage the company to look forward to lignin production.

[@PxsDD]

This is the perfect video to top off the year. I really appreciate the transparency about the cost of extractive energy solutions. Lignen is now my number one favorite renewable! Thank you so much!

[@ricardokowalski1579]

This can become a high value added item if it is used in disposable, low power, short lived, IoT sensors. Sheets of paper on the floor of containers or trucks, that would alert if a shipment got wet. Or if something thawed out enough to leak. Conversely, if they dry out, it would detect that the shipment humidity fell below a certain value. Wax capsules can melt, leaking electrolite to warn of temperature changes. Paper, cellulose and ligning are stable enough to be embedded inside dry walls, attics or closed spaces to monitor for water leaks. Maybe in ribbon form lining tubing.

[@km5lb11]

comes to commercial grade use, it is good to see companies trying to find new uses for what had been a waste product. And I think looking for bio products instead of mining is a great idea.

[@Kaching017]

I done something like this before... 1 major issue is overcharging & heat. (Realty=Like other super thin film.. It will easily degrade in the present of heat for a long time.)

[@iampdv]

(Some) baby nappies burn quite well actually. I have a burn scar from my childhood, when I threw one into a fire and then tried to get it out... That stuff from inside splashed on my finger and kept burning.

[@norvusordoseclorum]

You can tell he really has fun whilst writing these videos

[@passagetonow1229]

Can you talk about battery recycling? If we had an affordable and sustainable battery recycling process, that would help advance solar and wind power.

[@tedhamilton2362]

This is encouraging... making renewables' storage using renewable resources (wood-based materials).

[@a-aron2276]

Seem like a good thing, just make them big and cheap and it'll be great for a more distributed storage network, but we gotta keep them wind turbines spinning. It makes me sad when they're not spinning because I know it's only that way because of the local grid being at capacity. Unless theres zero wind which basically never happens here in Ireland they should always be spinning. At the the moment though I'd at least have them constantly doing electrolysis and having the gas collected from each farm for use as fuel later. Hho generation or splitting the two elements seperately while it doesn't make sense to have renewables make it for the purpose of conversion, if it's created from excess engery I'm all for it.

[@4shotpastas]

If I remember correctly, lignen is extracted for making clear wood, if that's the case, making clear wood in place of glass for windows could lead to an easy lignen source, decreasing the price of those types of batteries. Assuming clear wood and these batteries take off that is XD

[@danielmadar9938]

Thank you. I wrote about these technologies a few years ago, it's good to see that they are still around.

[@billdillard885]

Another interesting Dis-Batt Dat-Batt! Lithium is a huge environmental disaster in process…. The answer or answers are out there… love how you keep looking under rug for one that might be the right one!! Keep looking and sharing!!

[@billahler7728]

Its not how many trees will need to be cut down, its the energy, carbon foot print and chemicals that are used in production that will determine if its green or not.

[@juppster5694]

6:16 Couldn't understand why you were pulling keycaps off a keyboard 🤣 It's OK, I've worked it out now 👍

[@firefox39693]

I really liked this topic. I think even with a gravimetric energy density of only 40 wH per kg, that could work as energy storage for truck trailers. I'd like to hear from Ligna Energy about what they think about that.

[@russellvatcher4753]

Landon I am so glad to see someone else has the idea of using the 50 foot trailer as a storage system for energy . Look up "Range Energy" and let me know what you think about it.

[@firefox39693]

@@russellvatcher4753 I really like it. It's what I see happening with Trailor Dynamics and Einride. I'm happy to see more than just two companies are doing this.

[@dremein]

How many wood batteries would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck batteries? And what will wood chucks chuck if all the wood is used for batteries? Only time will tell! Keep up the interesting content.

[@anxiousearth680]

Lol😁

[@RasmusLodenius]

Could you make a video about circular showers? Does it work and how much energy/water do you really save? :)

[@GLJosh]

Potentially diaper material based green energy source, most newly created bioreactors can produce a green waste product dependent in inputs. There are quite a few containers designed to retain this waste product and those with large amounts of those containers are in a great need to assist with disposal.

[@blarghchan]

Ligna Energy? More like Ligna Balls. Hope this pans out, I'm all for finding viable use for industrial waste.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Succeed or fail, what is important is that problems are being looked at, and solutions being worked on, from as many different mindsets and directions as practicable.

[@AUNEEKUZIRNAIM]

If it is useful and cost-effective, it will find its niche in the market. And this is good! Even if it never replaces lithium-based batteries, it will help because it can ease the economic and environmental pressures of lithium demand. There may be hundreds of different battery technologies that make it into the market, and they all contribute in their own way to fill a demand that is only getting stronger.

[@gardenrailroading]

The only constant in our world, is change! We will make it good for our children (hopefully). Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!