The Missing Link in Renewables

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Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Brian McManus
Editor: Dylan Hennessy (www.behance.net/dylanhennessy1)
Animator: Mike Ridolfi (www.moboxgraphics.com/)
Sound: Graham Haerther (haerther.net/)
Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster / forgottentowel
References:
[1] www.aurecongroup.com/markets/...
[2] www.theguardian.com/australia...
[3] www.energycouncil.com.au/anal...
[4] www.reuters.com/article/us-au...
[5] www.researchgate.net/publicat...
[6] Note: Many different sources quote different figures. There are of course high margins for error when estimating the total quantity of an element on a planet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundan...
[7] www.researchgate.net/publicat...
[8] iopscience.iop.org/article/10...
[9] ambri.com/benefits/
[10] www.sciencedirect.com/science...
[11] ambri.com/benefits/
[12] about.bnef.com/blog/behind-sc...
[13] www.nature.com/articles/srep1...
[14] www.greentechmedia.com/articl...
[15] www.datacenterdynamics.com/en...
[16] energycentral.com/c/iu/how-an...
Thank you to AP Archive for access to their archival footage.
Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator
Thank you to my patreon supporters: Adam Flohr, Henning Basma, Hank Green, William Leu, Tristan Edwards, Ian Dundore, John & Becki Johnston. Nevin Spoljaric, Jason Clark, Thomas Barth, Johnny MacDonald, Stephen Foland, Alfred Holzheu, Abdulrahman Abdulaziz Binghaith, Brent Higgins, Dexter Appleberry, Alex Pavek, Marko Hirsch, Mikkel Johansen, Hibiyi Mori. Viktor Józsa, Ron Hochsprung

[@RealEngineering]

Here's a link to the podcast. watchnebula.com/modulus/battery-breakthroughs

[@fobudomh]

Is nebula and curiosity in India?

[@fiachna10]

so you're bacically saying that we dont have enough elements

[@RealEngineering]

@@vasubawa yes

[@ThisMoth]

Is this the missing link mentioned in the video?

[@fabiankehrer3645]

@@RealEngineering What do you think about the new Boston Dynamics video?

[@LunaPaviseSolcryst]

Sony: "Fine, I'll just do it myself."

[@suit1337]

they did the same with the PlayStation as Nintendo ditched the optical drive for the SNES and N64

[@mjouwbuis]

That has always been (still is?) large part of their corporate culture.

[@MightyCoffeeMaker]

Reminds me of how Intel declained Apple's request to design and manufacture chips to power what was soon to be called...the iPhone. Almost 15 years later, and Apple is about to destroy their market with their incredibles desktop targeted and custom designed ARMs. Congrats Intel, you played yourself (for the moment).

[@doomguard731]

Energy storage is impossible batteries don't work.

[@ben7510]

So Thanos was inspired by Sony

[@leonhill8447]

I love how Prof. Sadoway addresses scalability & affordability. Making something work in a laboratory environment is a very different problem than implementing it at a large scale.

[@instanoodles]

It feels like he has been tooting his horn forever about his batteries but nothing has ever been shown in real life. I hope he can deliver what he says he has but if we hold our breath any longer we will all pass out.

[@bobwallace9753]

@@instanoodles Yes. Sadoway "had the solution" years ago but he's never figured out how to make it work. Time to ignore him until he can produce a liquid metal battery that works.

[@scottn7cy]

@@bobwallace9753 Being as it's now being deplyed I think we can now say it works.

[@bobwallace9753]

@@scottn7cy I'm unaware of any of Sadoway's batteries on the grid. Got a reference?

[@leonhill8447]

@@bobwallace9753 did you watch the video? The first deployment of Sadoway's batteries will be used for a data center near Reno NV.

[@Merthalophor]

"you know in university, you build 5 cells, one of them works and you get a publication and everyone is high fiving and so on - but in manifacturing, everything has to work" lmao

[@rohankishibe8259]

That part came exactly at the second i was reading your comment

[@nkl7345]

@@rohankishibe8259 same tf

[@YR2050]

Exactly, Prototypes are easy, manufacturing is hard, by 10x to 100x hard.

[@zaka165]

I love how he perfectly describe his achievement

[@ivok9846]

one of them works...kinda... sorta...

[@BrokenSymetry]

This astounding amount of quality research and detailed facts paired with beautiful and comprehensive presentation is seriously above anything else on youtube. Please keep up the awesome work!

[@stevenlonien7857]

Exactly why it's based on facts not opinions like betza limits the limits eliminating most of superior infinite values of wind for change stuck in corporates pockets 103 years so far south. of course truth .Tides stiil X 1000 best energy storage opinions established .

[@hg2.]

Yes, it's well done. That said, I think renewable energy is 21st century pyramid building and GW is a laid of it. Just burn coal and clean up the smoke, or use nuclear.

[@Ubersnuber]

Didn’t know that Sony was the first ones to introduce lithium-ion batteries to the masses. They, if not invented, started something big.

[@LamZL1]

guess you could say they were powerful

[@LamZL1]

@@morganwilliams2863 just trying to energize everyone with some humour yea Watts wrong with that? 😆

[@NeoKingArthur]

Sony invented a lot of first-time innovations for the consumers. First Li-ion batteries, first portable audio device in walkman and discman, first to make waterproof phones in the xperia series. First to make LED edge backlighting on their Bravia TVs. First to commit to the development of superior high-resolution audio codec such as DSD and LDAC for wireless. There are so many innovations that Sony made that we take for granted. The list are endless. But not many people know about it or even talk about it. Maybe it's because they have poor marketing department. Or perhaps, they're just too humble for it.

[@CrankyPantss]

@@LamZL1 Ohm my goodness. Good puns.

[@luiskp7173]

Sony Li-ion batteries were outsourced to Panasonic, which was a well stablished battery manufacturer, so this professor is stretching the truth a bit.

[@archigoel]

I really liked how you covered the "challenges" of manufacturing, and how that is a barrier. Almost no battery video which talks about "breakthroughs" touches this aspect.

[@Goodmanperson55]

I think the main difference is that those other videos are mainly focusing on the science of technology. They may be revolutionary in theory but are they worth it? Engineering is a bit of a different beast and takes into account the economic powers that factor into creating usable technologies. You can't be a good engineer if you don't know how to factor in concepts like logistics, economics and scalability.

[@linmal2242]

Well www.redflow.com has met that challenge and is in production now. You can go buy one and it will be as good, or better in some regards, than Ambri and especially lithium.

[@luongmaihunggia]

1:36 How is pumped hydro storage "not scalable"? You can't just make claims without proof. Fact: the world's largest pump hydro storage facility is 24000MWh which is larger than the world's largest grid battery 300MWh. "Not scalable" my ass. Fact: pump hydro storage make up for 95% of grid energy storage. "Not scalable" my ass.

[@rytan4516]

@@luongmaihunggia There are requirements on where we can build pump hydro storage. You need a steep slope to pump the water up, a large catchment area on top, and access to water. This means hills or mountains with a flat area and a river or lake nearby. This also has ecological consequences, since the catchment area requires clearing a large area (though that's not what we're talking about). There are only so many places you can build pump hydro storage. In comparison, the batteries detailed in this video can be used anywhere. This means that the only barrier for scalability is material availability (which isn't going to be a problem anytime soon). Scalablility isn't about how much we have right now. It's how much we can have in the future. If we need more capacity, it's relatively easy to build another battery station. How easy is it to build more pump hydro storage facilities?

[@Mathis218337]

@@luongmaihunggia it’s not scalable because of the land needed

[@CoolAsFreya]

Thank you for actually talking about power frequency regulation, which is a measurement often forgotten or misunderstood by other KZbinrs talking about next generation grid storage. Storage capacity and output power are good measurements for medium and long term energy storage, but short term frequency smoothing for renewables like wind is something that is essential in a green power grid!

[@UltraBrot]

Love your dedication to high quality research for your videos! You make your sources transparent and even put in an interview with a leading expert - great work!

[@anger_birb]

I wonder if the term "lava battery" has any marketing merit.

[@lukasfiala1019]

Molten silicon thermal energy storage technology already exists

[@burntchickennugget191]

Hmm If mincraft has showed me anything its that lava is extremely usefull.

[@spaceman081447]

@Dylan Chester RE: "I wonder if the term 'lava battery' has any marketing merit." I don't think so; the word lava has too many negative connotations (forests, houses and towns burning), in my humble opinion. But then again, lava lamps were popular during the '70s.

[@jeetadityachatterjee6995]

@@spaceman081447 we can't forget the smash hit movie volcano that used lava extensively throughout the movie

[@KSchawacker]

A "Lava Cell" might sell better. ;D

[@AndrewMeyer]

"If you want to make something dirt cheap, make it out of dirt." Haha, I love it!

[@weshervey2202]

Pun intended lol

[@warpigs330]

Everything is made of dirt. Lithium is dirt. Diamonds are dirt.

[@petergoestohollywood382]

And only after some time you’ll realize how expensive dirt really is.

[@CompelledFungus]

Thorium that is all.

[@Dr_Kenneth_Noisewater]

Dirt is cheap. The cost is in the “making”.

[@Ponderer_-vk3cz]

I really like how you include references and indicate them in your videos.

[@orcunsavas]

@4:21 I can't unsee that smiling gauge :D

[@megapaul13]

Im from South Australia. The blackout was good fun. My local pub had a generator built in and as word spread, a quiet bar became the most packed its probably ever been.

[@sixstringedthing]

And on that day, the genny paid for itself twice over and the publican was pleased. :)

[@najibvaliyff2653]

Which pub?

[@ParoXyzmm]

Was it actually a tornado, or was it a large cyclone?

[@sixstringedthing]

@@ParoXyzmm it was a series of very heavy storms that were the tail-end of a tropical cyclone. "Tornadoes" are an American thing. Cheers ;)

[@ParoXyzmm]

@@sixstringedthing Thanks for the clarification

[@faizahmed1597]

Please do keep us updated on those batteries : )

[@Duxaization]

Update yourself man. Most of the people who get these technologies off the ground are no smarter than you or I. They most of the time persisted and got a little lucky.

[@robertmacdonnell258]

The very idea of batteries flies in the face of the Theory of Thermodynamics. Too bad.

[@durnsidh6483]

@@robertmacdonnell258 Please explain

[@robertmacdonnell258]

@@durnsidh6483 You can't win, you can't break even, and you have to play the game. Don't you know the three laws?

[@durnsidh6483]

@@robertmacdonnell258 But you have yet to explain how batteries violate the three laws.

[@benjaminheindl1069]

This channel just keeps getting better and better with every video! Awesome work!! Also, I'm definitely going to listen in on the new podcast. :D

[@gregoireheymans8838]

Thanks for your videos, they are very well explained, very interesting and timely! I would love to also see a video that compares this technique with other energy storage techniques like hydrogen, li-ion batteries, pumped hydro etc (in terms of price, scalability, impact on the environment etc).

[@fireaza]

"Well fine! I'll start my own battery manufacturing facility! With lithium! And ions!" -Sony

[@fartingfury]

And blackjack, and hookers 🙂

[@jorkobsuffixmeat7842]

@@fartingfury In fact forget the manufacturing facility!

[@fartingfury]

@@jorkobsuffixmeat7842 ... and the lithium...

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

What about the subject of solid state batteries, e.g. QuantumScape's solid state battery?

[@gustre]

14:55 "you know at the university you make 5 cells and one of them works and you get a publication out of it and everyones highfiving and so on..." XD

[@cynriclozano282]

this video need more views such innovations cant remain unheard

[@theamericandemocracyausers513]

I loved this. Two things: 1) CNTs are actually plausibly commercializable in ten years. Arguably they're already commercialized as they're deployed in a lot of contexts, albeit haphazardly (lightweight tennis rackets being the constant example). The fact that they're being put into products, and have been for years now is actually a cause for alarm given that they're able to infiltrate the body and cross the blood/brain barrier. I worked as a policy research assistant to a nanotechnology lab and there was a lot of excitement about doping battery anodes with CNTs and whatnot at the time. So both CNTs and hyper-energy-dense battery technology are just about fully realized. 2) I did my PhD dissertation on technology policy, and used grid-scale energy storage as a case study. I think the title of your video is a little misleading: the economics and technology development aspects of grid-scale energy storage are solved at this point. Ambri's battery chemisty is SUPER exciting and will, no doubt, push the economics even further, but we can go ahead with renewables today. I would argue that the real missing link is the political and sociofinancial wherewithal. Just as you describe lock-in as a function of a LI+ manufacturer's sunk costs specializing in that chemistry, grid operators and utilities have a psychological lock-in to current grid technologies. They simply don't have the perspective to value storage, and so they keep telling policymakers and regulators that "it's too expensive" and "it doesn't work." Technologically, speaking, however, there is still a major innovation that we desperately need. We can go ahead and deploy 100% renewable grids right now, but they'll be more expensive than they really need to be because storage operation is a new concept to us, and every technology (Pumped Hydro/CCAS, flywheel, battery+inverter, thermal storage, etc) operates differently and is optimal for a different use case. Current grid planning tools, but in particular grid operating software, doesn't have the capacity to use these assets to their fullest potential. Massive upheval in grid tech is going to be needed, starting with the ability of the grid to self-monitor and then, as a consequence, cybersecurity for that capacity. I'd love to see you talk about the software side of all this. Great vid, though. Love your stuff.

[@redshifted8790]

This might be the best video you ever made. The interview sections were also a great addition!

[@tobiaschaparro2372]

This ain't the mountain peak man, we are just at its feet.

[@Alusky]

I agree, the best video of him I've seen yet. Included great interviews with the real people behind the technology, that didn't just try to hype the tech up, but explained the pro's and cons in an ethical way.

[@Le_Petit_Lapin]

Loved it, this format was excellent!

[@luongmaihunggia]

"Best video" my ass. 1:36 How is pumped hydro storage "not scalable"? You can't just make claims without proof. Fact: the world's largest pump hydro storage facility is 24000MWh which is larger than the world's largest grid battery 300MWh. "Not scalable" my ass. Fact: pump hydro storage make up for 95% of grid energy storage. "Not scalable" my ass.

[@Le_Petit_Lapin]

@@luongmaihunggia it requires a shit ton of water and a large elevated position able to contain a lake to store the uphill side of the facility. You can't just whack it down anywhere you want more storage. energynews.us/2011/11/22/midwest/pumped-hydro-not-a-magic-bullet-for-energy-storage/

[@yeetyeet7070]

"Deep cycling" is the thing that makes this sound so much better and more possible

[@CloudyWithABitOfRain]

Yay I just subbed to you and also got the bundle deal. Very awesome video and thank you for the 41% off. Have been contemplating getting CuriosityStream for a while (gotta admit I had not heard of Nebula before) but never felt I really needed it until now.

[@LiftedStarfish]

Imagine using the heat generated by that data center combined with a heat pump in order to keep the batteries at optimal temperatures.

[@koloblicin]

sucking out the heat from the servers and putting it straight into the battery room, thats genius. i wonder how much you can heat up a concrete room before it starts breaking down.

[@omarosama155]

@@koloblicinrefactory concrete

[@lefr33man]

4:04 that gauge looks happy.

[@crackedemerald4930]

It's the happiness gauge

[@spacegoldfish40]

So I'm not the only one who noticed that :D

[@Frame.40]

Nice

[@superplink]

:D

[@harshupadhayay5520]

:D

[@AlessandroRodriguez]

No Sci-Fy nosense Start to explain a metal lava battery Cool as always

[@baltasarjimenez2091]

We've had similar concept batteries since WW2. Not that crazy, just not in widespread usage.

[@erikziak1249]

@@baltasarjimenez2091 Yes, "hot" accumulators were researched and tested decades ago. In the 1970s, electric buses, etc... The problem was to keep them hot. Also, they were not very environmentally friendly, due to toxic materials...

[@boxr_4214]

well if they already have working cells it's not really sci-fi

[@AttemptMade]

Molten sodium batteries come to mind, very niche product, they used to provide power for air to air missiles.

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

🥔 potato batteries. Series or parallel, just like solar, can work great in groups 😁

[@tomslick5456]

The North American grid is 240 volts at 60 hertz and is tripolar, but standard outlets are 120 volts at bipolar with a separate ground. Generally the higher voltage is used for manufacturing and electric appliances that require more power such as electric stoves and run at higher amperage. Standard outlet at 120 volts are either 15 or 20 amps.

[@jaywye]

The fact that a private company is bringing into the world such an urgently-needed and revolutionary product while governments are sipping oil money and banning plastic straws is ridiculous.

[@jasondashney]

Here is where I agree completely with Neil Degrasse Tyson. He talks about research for research's sake and how much came out of NASA that we use every day and I completely agree.

[@justliving920]

That's typically how it goes. Don't get me wrong, governments are capable of inventing things, but typically, its better that its done in the private sector. You have to keep in mind that if the government makes a bad investment in a technology, and it fails and gets scrapped, its not their money they wasted, but our tax dollars.

[@BBBrasil]

LOL! As a chemistry teacher I used to ask my students to write down hypothetical batteries using redox tables, that was one of the solutions :-)

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

the hard part is actually building prototypes of these hypothetical batteries to see which ones work

[@carso1500]

@@samsawesomeminecraft not really, the hard part is producing them in enough numbers that is affordable, economies of scale and everything

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

so there's two hard parts!

[@suit1337]

@@samsawesomeminecraft at least the anode and cathode are not hard (solid) here 😂

[@AntonWongVideo]

I only understood 1/3 of this video but the 3D models in the Battery set are FIRE!! It took me a few seconds to realize they were CG! Great work to Mike Ridolfi, the animator (and I'm assuming 3d modeler)! The texturing and lighting was perfect!

[@AbdulGoodLooks]

A shame KZbin doesn't show these videos to much wider audiences

[@AntonWongVideo]

@@AbdulGoodLooks it does. just not everyone clicks on it. KZbin suggests videos it thinks you might like. if you click, you're more likely to be served similar videos or the same video. if you don't it won't reservice it. there are thousands of other points that the algorithm takes into account. But, there's nothing to stop you from sharing this video on other social media!

[@ekimoleksander6068]

Thanks ☺️

[@Marva123]

This was an excellent video. Prof. Sadoway addressed many of the current hurdles to overcome before these new forms of storage can become a reality.

[@kori228]

would really like to see an update for this, it seems the most important technology at the moment.

[@Ninjaeule97]

It isn't that hard to store energy, but unfortunately, economics/politics often gets in the way. You can pump water up a hill and release it again. You can split water and burn the H2. You can heat something and use the heat to power a generator. You can compress air and power a turbine. Etc. The thing is there are already people against wind turbines and solar panels near them. Now imagine a giant reservoir of water, H2, hot substance, or compressed air and you have your answer why the economics don't pan out most of the time.

[@koloblicin]

@@Ninjaeule97 or god forbid! a nuclear power plant near anyone.

[@403.FORBIDDEN]

Half way through the video* "So this is where things get complicated" Me: ఠ_ఠ yeaa..

[@noelleonard2498]

When that pesky reality shows up. "Renewed" with crude oil just like everything else 🤣

[@phslhs]

John Mulaney Voice: We're well past that.

[@mjennings061]

Bringing in the world-leading expert, quantitative analysis and reviewing the literature. This video is incredible. Completely rich in state of the art content too, that's not even mentioning the animations! Well done Brian. It is so good to see the channel growing 🙌

[@ww07ff]

I can see it working for magacities energy storage as a group of huge underground "siamese" swimming pools, to "share/stabilize" its heat, connected in series to reach the desirable voltage. The terrain layer around the ceramic pools can work as a thermal battery and other outer terrain layer can work as a insulator, just changing its composition (sand/clay) during the site construction phase. Keep in mind that volume grows "cubic" and area grows "square", it means the bigger the volume gets, less surface area in proportion to lose heat.

[@andreavaleri0]

The video did not start yet, the ad was running. I scrolled down to the video description section inthe meantime. I saw the references. I subscribed to the channel ♥️

[@yggdrasil9039]

3:40 "It was a poorly planned grid." Erm, yes, it was a poorly planned grid because it was sold off to Hong Kong Infrastructure company many years before, and they had done sweet little since then, reaping the profits and doing virtually no upgrades. Onto this grid was added renewables like wind, hydro and solar because they were cheapest, but the infrastructure company did little to nothing to ensure grid harmonisation. This is what happens when you don't have vertical integration and sell everything off. Blaming wind-turbines for a storm that toppled power stanchions and cut power lines on an ageing grid decades overdue for an update is disingenuous, since it became evident after PM Malcolm Turnbull's comments that there was a political purpose of moating fossil fuels by using the storm event as a weapon to attack renewable energy uptake. PM Turnbull at the time, using the storm and subsequent blackout as an excuse, said that renewable uptake was 'irresponsible' and thus implying that this was responsible for the blackout - but it was the very neoliberal economic policies of selling everything off that was 'irresponsible', since no new renewable additions to the grid had been properly integrated.

[@WayneKitching]

Well thought-out answer, but I think you meant disingenuous and not ingenuous.

[@linmal2242]

Yes, and flogging it and others to foreign buyers like the chynese, who have no vested interest in maintaining, improving, and ensuring continuity of supply was straight out vandalism to our country and its corporate interestrs as well. Totally irresponsible and should have been disallowed.

[@yggdrasil9039]

@@WayneKitching thanks Ed! fixed.

[@flagmichael]

@@linmal2242 (Retired IT field support for a major electric company with focus on energy delivery here) Absolutely right. Political considerations invariably degrade electric systems. Here in the Western US we have the geographically largest interconnection in North America, spanning the US roughly west of the Rockies and the provinces of BC and Alberta in Canada. California seems to think the laws of physics can be bent to the laws of politicians. Without the rest of the interconnection to stabilize them load shedding would be a normal part of every evening.

[@jasonwalker9471]

@@flagmichael Yeah... but that's just how renewables *have* to work. Either you have high levels of interconnection (so that an area that's clouded over and experiencing calm weather can still draw power from various still sunny or still windy partners), or you have high levels of storage. Both is better of course, but the path that California chose - overproducing because of their excellent geographical location, then selling it to less perfectly placed neighbors - isn't a bad way of doing things, even if California didn't implement it as well (yet) as could be desired. So it's disingenuous to say that it's merely "politicians being stupid politicians", since *having an interconnected grid is a large part of what makes renewables affordable*. You can do it with just local storage of course, but it's much more expensive to take the "just local storage only" path forward.

[@THEmickTHEgun]

I should just mention this, I live in South Australia and we don’t get tornadoes here. Our blackouts are just caused by storms with heavy winds. The northern parts of Australia, mostly Queensland, do get the occasional cyclone.

[@TheRealUnconnected]

iirc there was a small tornado that took down some HV towers in SA during that storm. Tornado's are possible all over australia, they are just very rare. There are waterspout tornado's off the coast of sydney reletivly often (maybe 1 every year or two).

[@gottrekk5798]

South Australia government - mismanagement + blackouts. New South Wales - zero blackouts.

[@jonathansturm4163]

We had a tornado in Hobart, Tasmania in recent time. They’re rare, but far from non-existent.

[@jarradscarborough7915]

the correct term would be 'tropical cyclone', 'cyclones' (also called 'typhoons in asia) spin in the other direction. the 'cyclones' that came off the gulf and killed the north-south link was a 'mini-tropical-cyclone'

[@zs9477]

4:30 Says lithium ion batteries, and shows standing electrolyte lead-acid batteries.

[@mwanikimwaniki6801]

Caught my eye

[@TheBaldr]

When it said they need a niche customer. My first thought was data centers.

[@eric44olson]

i work at one, great idea

[@Vaasref]

17:32 Heartless people ! Give that Cell Assembly a hug come on !

[@avalsirithanawat1772]

Hahahahaha

[@wilfriedklaebe]

"Not scalable to our current needs" - unintended pun there ;)

[@jolez_4869]

It just does not have the potential :/

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

@@binguscat2514 yes, I need me my currants, they're delicious.

[@underworldjam]

Facepalm

[@smallstudiodesign]

They’re the best ones.

[@halilzelenka5813]

the 0.1% of puns

[@peterweller8583]

Yes I agree the answer to your query is storage also micro minimal storage too whether that being you EV in your garage or a molten salt pile in a Dewar bottle or what ever that is deemed sustainable, reliable, economical

[@peterweller8583]

𝘿!𝙘𝙠 Riding ǤƗяℓ Emily What happened to your post? It is missing

[@ovencake523]

22:01 I literally watch both tom scott and teirzoo and they're both right there with those two plus you im probably gonna get it

[@MenosQuincy]

So crazy to be hearing about Ambri again. I did a college engineering project on this company almost 10 years ago and now they're getting a big break to show off their batteries in the real world.

[@ezravandermeer2728]

@@deepak_nigwal science is slow

[@robinsuj]

@@ezravandermeer2728 Science isn't that slow, getting the funds and bureaucracy is slow.

[@ezravandermeer2728]

@@robinsuj true but the process is still pretty slow

[@MrLense]

@@ezravandermeer2728 it depends on investment, the covid vaccine was done in less than a year because many countries poured money into it, if some billionaires would pour money into Ambri they’d be making progress quicker

[@benjaminlazarus1]

The animations are looking incredible! You have inspired me to pursue a career in a STEM field. Continue the fantastic work :)

[@gogodaal7273]

That’s amazing good luck 👍 what are you studying?

[@Penguinmanereikel]

Welcome, brother! Get out while you still can 😊

[@gogodaal7273]

@@Penguinmanereikel the man hasn’t explained himself yet let me take his take first

[@linecraftman3907]

what field?

[@benjaminlazarus1]

@@linecraftman3907 Mechatronics probably but I’d like to explore options to get into the Aerospace industry.

[@Ellipsis115]

17:35 "Technological lock-in" that term I will use endlessly lol

[@arv1ndgr]

Lovely lovely narrative, tech, animations and science behind it! Much interesting and would like to follow its progress 😇

[@Zeroneii3]

"if you want to make something dirt cheap make it out of dirt"

[@trippybruh1592]

I think you're on to something here bud.

[@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164]

Dirt=carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, plus assorted minerals. These are the building blocks of everything we know.

[@ax2bxc]

*angry elon musk noises*

[@nitsu2947]

@@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164 we can use chemical reactions to suck them out of the dirt lololololololol

[@pcfan1986]

Even cheaper if you make it out of air.

[@cjwiffle4714]

I can't say I've ever heard the word cation pronounced that way before

[@PMA65537]

I checked wikipedia and it seems this video is wrong.

[@skierpage]

9:32 😆 English spelling is a nightmare. I need a va-cation

[@Merennulli]

When your cat-ions are off chasing mouse-ions, you have to switch to the more expensive cash-ions.

[@dejavu6475]

Cat ion

[@drfutato]

@@PMA65537 Wikipedia only takes American or British English into consideration. The pronunciation here is Irish English. It’s not wrong or right, it’s just different.

[@douglaslawrie3449]

Excellent video. Keep up the coverage on energy storage!

[@douglaslawrie3449]

Have a look at liquid air storage!

[@sharemyjoys]

Wow what a great video, very watchable and packed with content

[@polderdebanjan]

This was a very pragmatic introduction to this promising storage solution. I wish all sustainable energy related videos were like this.

[@luongmaihunggia]

1:36 How is pumped hydro storage "not scalable"? You can't just make claims without proof. Fact: the world's largest pump hydro storage facility is 24000MWh which is larger than the world's largest grid battery 300MWh. "Not scalable" my ass. Fact: pump hydro storage make up for 95% of grid energy storage. "Not scalable" my ass.

[@GuiSmith]

@@luongmaihunggia No scalable based on every location. Do you know how few locations are suited for hydroelectric dams with large enough space that won’t destroy an ecosystem or require the entire basin to be dug out? They’re scalable, but not opportune or capable of enough output to transfer power across the insane distances that would be necessary to rely on hydropower. Additionally, raw power “storage” isn’t really a thing in the grid at the moment. That’s why the battery buffers and flywheels matter so much in conversations about renewables and why dams hold most storage. It’s basically the _only_ storage we have. I’m certain many areas can massively benefit from usage of dams as buffers and will be encouraged to. But for everyone else, batteries are where it’s at.

[@luongmaihunggia]

@@GuiSmith no. Not hydro electric dam. *Pump* hydro electric dam.

[@grissee]

@@luongmaihunggia It is the same, you'll need a large valley to pump all those water, and it will destroy the ecosystem.

[@ChildOfTheLie96]

Why listen to Real Engineering when his comments sections are packed with experts?

[@iequiiinox8290]

You don‘t have to read them

[@alchemist2048]

XD That was a good one ,basically every "explanation" video where you get the experts who graduated from comment academy.

[@ALiRAZA-mg8bd]

@@alchemist2048 😂😂

[@KhalilEstell]

Lolololol, IKR!

[@Eternal_Fire]

@@alchemist2048 but by going through them you can improve your understanding also

[@excitedbox5705]

Ceramic seals are already used in vacuum systems and have all those properties. They also have the perfect expansion under heat to match metals such as copper to maintain a seal.

[@researchandbuild1751]

Speaking of flywheels several companies develop flywheel energy storage and personally i feel this is a great tech. Some power plants already use flywheel storage to smooth demand

[@z4zuse]

Using Li-ion cells for everything is a bit like using titanium for things of metal. Possible, but not practical.

[@k1ngjulien_]

^^ This. You use the metal that makes the most sense for your application.

[@anthonypelchat]

On paper that's true. However, Li-ion's scale of production is making it cheap enough to work with anything. These batteries, and others like it, may make more sense on paper, but the costs are a huge factor right now. Li-ion has options already for lightweight applications and high cycle applications. Will be interesting to see if these take off, but I'm not sure they ever will.

[@BosonCollider]

People used to say the same thing about Steel and Aluminium at various points in history.

[@benjaminzerr6708]

More like Aluminium, applicable to more situations than titanium, but people will continue to make ships and skyscrapers out of Steel.

[@pingwingugu5]

@@anthonypelchat lithium batteries have scalability issues and recycling issues. Getting enough rare earth metals to switch all the cars and grid to lithium will be hard. It is so hard that we are already looking into deep sea mining with robots (which isn't good because we know very little about deep sea ecosystems and how large scale mining will affect them). Rare earth metal mining is not a green process in general, it's very destructive to the environment and produces a lot of toxic waste. So there are hidden costs to lithium batteries, manufacturing cost went significantly down but at some point we will hit a point where raw materials availability will drive the cost up.

[@adedayotoheeb5161]

Please can we get an update when Ambry start their battery production.

[@adrianjason13]

Haven't heard of any serious progress about this company's battery development, but as this video suggests costs just outweigh the advantages of this battery. Manufacturing is expensive and highly resource demanding, and will be frowned upon by investors. I doubt they'll be ramping up with production anytime soon.

[@seankilburn7200]

@@adrianjason13 the same issue could hinder the progress of solid state batteries for use in electric vehicles

[@mohit_panjwani]

@@adrianjason13 it requires something like the Japanese fund they’re investing in solid state batteries or a company like VW who are developing their own.

[@CHMichael]

There is a problem with it he doesn't tell us.

[@774kblake]

I've been in renewable energy since the early 70's and the "Holy Grail" has always been cheap and reliable energy storage. If I had a nickle for every time I've heard "This new technology will finally provide a cheap and reliable battery solution!" I would be VERY rich!

[@ggglab]

@@DarthObscurity Any examples? I'm genuinely curious.

[@ValMartinIreland]

Very well said. Would you agree that young men in particular are fools when it comes to electricity. They think it can be put in a paper bag.

[@ggglab]

@@ValMartinIreland True. I believe it's because it need some abstract thinking. You can't see electricity like you could see gears for example. I don't feel very competent at electrical stuff, I'm more of a thermodynamics guy, but whenever I try to explain someone something that requires 11th grade math, they're bored (or rather dismissive and give up trying to understand) by the second sentence.

[@ggglab]

@@buzzerpisang3640 Yes, what about it?

[@AjayAjay-gz3oz]

Do see my comments.... yes you WILL FIND THE "HOLY GRAIL" OF S2S (Sunset-To-Sunrise) Energy Storage in UHES... It has always been there .. but the focus was on Electricity Production (5,000TWhrs/yr today) and as the Demand was much much higher for Hydro Sites to provide... so Fossil.. Nuclear followed and "promised the sky"... They did deliver.... but also left/created Deadly Pollution... that is TODAY causing 9Million PreMature Deaths Annually and 275Million DALY of Suffering at a Societal Cost of $36.5Trillion/yr ( $1Million/Victim; $100,000/DALY of Suffering). However... using just a very tiny portion of the Non-Polluting Solar Energy the issues related to Sustsinable Supply of Energy (120,000TWhrs/yr today and 180,000TWhrs/yr in 2050) has receeded and become irrelevent.. but requires 40,000TWhrs/yr or 120TWhrs/Day of S2S Energy Storage / Generation. UHES readily achieves this as the role of the 1TW Hydro Plants around the world of being a "Generator of Primary Electricity" is replaced by 10TW/120TWhrs Daily of S2S Energy Storage/Generation... using the EXISTING HYDRO SITES and providing larger Lower Reservours with just 120TWhrs of Storage (barely 2.5% of the EXISTING Main Reservours above providing 5,000TWhrs of Water Storage...)

[@professorbitbang]

Thorium reactor. That is what we need. Was done in the 60s worked well in Oak Ridge for a long long time.

[@valentinmoeller]

These animations. 😍 This Knowledge 😍 Great Video!

[@axelotl86]

Jup, der Kanal ist wirklich konstant gut.

[@demp11]

Ja ich mag wie detailliert er auf die Themen eingeht.

[@thechip7555]

I agree with this but don't use the God dam emojis

[@Esparzamx]

This is the kind of things for which the state can intervene for the greater good. Either subsidizing them or becoming the initial buyer would give producers the leg up they need in order to kickstart their scale economies. Thats why engineers need to be able to clearly communicate the benefits to economists which in turn need to influence economic policy.

[@LimitedWard]

Absolutely, but the technology first needs to prove itself before governments can responsibly invest in them.

[@joshuapartridge5092]

yeah but its always hard to justify unless you can absolutely show direct and positive outcomes that taxpayers can obviously benefit from. gives those measures bad rep fairly often, and just who benefits from what is always pretty unclear and up to interpretation.

[@alandoak5146]

@@LimitedWard when applying for a research grant to first explore a technology (the cheapest stage), you at least show that the thermodynamics are sound. As you progress along the research/development stages, and the grants get more expensive, the grant applications need to have more substance to them. Same as in industry, where I pitch project ideas to my management.

[@downriverbill]

@@alandoak5146 bill gates invested big...take it for what that is worth.

[@snerch6820]

I'd actually like to invest in that. Great work! Thank you!

[@javan6982]

@realengineering We 'd love an updated video on this!

[@jdrudolfp2]

I like your way of covering difficult science-economic relationship. Keep it going!

[@nenmaster5218]

I LOVE recommending science-youtubers to people in c-sections under science-youtubers!! May I? Or is this too random?

[@TheSkace]

science-economic is called engineering. Making science on constrained budget.

[@frbe0101]

I personally would love more videos on the darkside of economy of scale, amorization and technological lock in, as these are common problems in so many markets of every kind.

[@menlvideos]

A company called Azelio is working on this rn by using sterling motors, pretty remarkable and effective. Not as effective as a standard battery but much cheaper and environmentally healthier. They have just started to construct their grids in Dubai, hopefully, they will get It going!

[@ezza88ster]

Signed up for curiosity stream - what a bargain! thanks!

[@96oscarC]

My engineering thesis was on energy storage for the grid. The biggest obstacle is trying to get the government to uptake other forms of energy storage that isn't lithium batteries

[@aspuzling]

Why is that such a big obstacle?

[@YodaWhat]

Bureaucrats and mid-level managers are violently opposed to everything new, because they think it could fail and damage their careers.

[@jeswin499]

Thanks for providing us such a quality content. Li -ion cells need cooling to maintain at about 20-45 °C ok, that seems easy compared to keeping entire energy storage at 500°C for ambri LM batteries. Just a suggestion; a follow up video about thermal cooling/heating requirements about Li-ion 21700,or new 4680 like in Tesla and ambri batteries would be awesome.

[@indrajithn7094]

Yes, exactly

[@Zen-rl5pv]

Would love to see this storage technology be integrated in a way with energy production so that the heat generated from energy creation can warm start the batteries, further increasing efficiency!

[@twistedyogert]

I was wondering if radioisotopes could be used to keep the battery warm.

[@HonourAmongThieves]

Excellent video as always!

[@GlassFoxGear]

I heard about this a long time ago, I'm glad to see they're still working on it

[@antonnym214]

Very cogent discussion, backed up by unassailable research. Well done! Sadoway is an international treasure, and your reporting and presentation are world-class. All good wishes for a brilliant 2021.

[@stevenchang5658]

DUDE I live in Ecuador here we mostly use 110V@60HZ only things like drying machines, water heaters and A/C use 220V@60Hz and have diffent installations for each voltage as well as breakers and connectors

[@kerryb2689]

You can't ignore the cost if inefficiency because it increases the cost (capitol and maintenance) of the power source over it's lifespan, whether it be wind or solar. The heat wasted charging and discharging batteries could have been used to power the grid. You must figure efficiency (lost power) both directions --- for example pump hydro... pump @ 80% x electric motor @ 95% = 76% on the way up, and turbine @80% x generator @ 95% = 76% on the way back down. therefore 76% x 76% = 57.8% At the very best, batteries are a stopgap to get the natural gas power plant fired up, or to smooth the variation in wind and solar. The high temperature will increase the corrosion rate of everything at that increased temperature. A 250 MWH battery isn't all that big. 10 MW solar x 12 hours daylight = 120 MWH. 12 hours dark and 2 cloudy days and you're in trouble, calling up the reliable power company. So now we have 23 MW geothermal + 10 MW solar + 250 MWH / 25 HR battery = 43MW capacity to run a 20 MW data center. Can you guess which one is the workhorse in this scenario? The solar + batteries just make up the 50% overload that the data center uses during the peak demand. Maybe they don't have Hailstorms in Reno. When I mention that to anyone around here thinking about using solar, they say "Oh Crap, I didn't think about that". Works the same way on a larger scale... nuclear power plant------->coal/natural gas------->hydro------>wind/solar-------->batteries Ask 100 people if they want their electric bill to be $100/month or $150/month and 99 will reply $100. A data center can pass on the costs as an invisible fee of a few percent, so all is well, and they are heroes for using renewables. Sorry to shoot holes, but it must be done.

[@UndeadShell]

I'm glad you finally did a video about this battery, i had seen the TED talk about this kind of battery was was wondering when more detail would come forward.

[@t3ck3r]

I saw it too. Dr. Sadoway gave a great talk, TED need to have him do a update on his work. Those are the kind of people that help move his work forward.

[@Sgttriggerhappy117]

Okay i just have to say this i never really thought about engineering or cared for that matter but after finding your videos about 2-3 years ago. but i really enjoy the content and i have so much respect for engineers

[@davidwilkie9551]

In Australia we often refer to the "tyranny of distance", which applies directly to Grids and Grid Storage, a magnificent Engineering problem solving exercise. If the future expectations of Solar Roof Micro generation, Home Battery Storage and P2P EV vehicles continues, then there's a bit of explaining to be done as to why Government does not promote the same on-site Power systems for the Industries, the same ones we were told to buy our own systems for so as to allow them cheaper access to the failing fossil fuel system.

[@anydaynow01]

It is interesting how a first world country with such immense lithium and solar resources is still using steampunk technology to power its grid. They would also be a prime candidate for SMRs for base load if they are purchased in bulk.

[@PapaphobiaPictures]

@@anydaynow01 because our country is often run by dolts

[@grave0x]

loved the sa blackouts. imagine week long frames of no power

[@sebastianb.3754]

This is so well made. Thank you for making this content!

[@Technosis100]

Solid State Batteries and Now Liquid Metal Batteries... this honestly seems fascinating and exciting

[@NiMareQ]

"I say, if you want to make something dirt cheap, make it out of dirt." ~ Prof. Sadoway 7:19

[@ph11p3540]

As a Canadian, one of the most important questions is how much power can the battery hold under extremely cold conditions? We need mass power storage that works in sub zero temperatures reliably. For that, lead sulfide is still the most reliable though it's power density is very low for it's weight. Lithium Ion are unpredictable when they are required to charge or supply power below -15C. Canada's north has lots of wind all year around but there is no means of storing that power using pumped hydro (it's too cold and permanently frozen)

[@111111222223]

TBH, Redox Flow Batteries seem like the more promising technology for this kind of application. Super cheap and massively scalable.

[@z4m01]

Yeah I would like a video about them too from Real Engineering. Specially organic ones.

[@TecSanento]

As far as I know this redox Flow batteries Kennedy Energy man seine definitely and you need some big reaction Chambers to quickly Store BS energy amounts and we are talking of millions of cubic meters to store Terawatt hours... in my opinion the best chance we have is to synthesize Methanol or something similar to store the energy in and pipe it through fuel cells to get the energy back out. It would even be easier to transport and distributed energy in this form

[@TecSanento]

Although there is an opportunity in molten salt that could be used to create steam to drive turbines and be easily heated with electricity and maintain heat for longer periods and you could even transform old power plants into this types of storage

[@patattack1919]

Yep soon as I heard that it needs to be stored hot i thought why not redox flow

[@absalomdraconis]

Honestly, for grid energy storage, the best option for the foreseeable future is probably going to _remain_ pumped hydroelectric. The lack of good sites is a nuisance, but a nuisance that ultimately can be dealt with by digging deep reservoir tanks: an expensive nuisance, but one that will pay off. Batteries themselves are almost incomprehensible as an option, because you need to batteries to not simply have a large capacity, but more particularly to have both extremely low losses (less than lithium-ion) and to last a long time (much longer than lithium-ion). If Satoway really can pull off full reversability of the chemistry then hopefully that would achieve it, but I certainly won't believe it until I actually see it done.

[@anantshandilya6806]

Just a little correction, a flywheel doesn't maintain the speed of an engine. It acts as an energy buffer and smoothens the torque ripple from the engine. I believe a governor should be the one you are referring to. Big fan of your work!

[@quinndenver4075]

Well it acts as inertia for the engine so both you and the video are correct

[@downriverbill]

Balls to the wall was an old expression for the steam pressure regulator...cool to hear somebody with correct terminology and understanding of "frequency"...

[@legarsensmartelectrique6899]

Liquid air, redox, and gravity trapping batteries are also seemingly good futur options for non-mobile energy storage. I particularly like air batteries as they they the only ones using the single most common and available resource absolutely everywhere on the planet.

[@dennisj.isreal8263]

*Outstanding, Keep Up Your Great Work Toward Saving Our Planet & Making Life Better For Mankind*

[@jackbarbey]

This man finally convinced me to sign up for Nebula and Curiosity Stream! Such good content

[@fjalics]

The best part of this video, is hearing that they are doing a 250 mwh install. If that works well, they will have a much easier time selling more. "There is no test like production".

[@msimon6808]

Exact Frequency grid operation is more important for clocks than for grid operation. The grid easily tolerates 1 part in 1,000 variation. People like their clock variations to be on the order of 1 part in 100,000 - about 1 second a day.

[@stevephelps3529]

As an addendum, I must clarify that the sodium batteries I believe have lower power densities than lithium ion right now! It doesn't matter, as I want to see huge sodium ion batteries put in static positions, to support hometowns and cities, as energy backup. Buildings in cities and towns, especially these box stores, should be covered with solar cells, especially since they're so ugly anyway, they would look better with a bank of solar cells with a pitch roof design on them.

[@thingusbingus1268]

And you can use the batteries to cool the solar cells somehow as well by heating up the batteries, allowing higher energy efficiency from the cells , and creating higher temps for the batteries saving energy on both ends

[@chahineyalla4838]

It would be interesting to make a back-of-the-envelope calculation to find out how extensive the battery capacity would have to be for the grid to run on renewables.

[@Orrphoiz]

not just interesting, necessary!

[@chahineyalla4838]

@@Orrphoiz yeah... I have a feeling it just wouldn't add up if you count that solar isn't reliable seasonally in many parts of the world. There, you'd be left with a wind + batteries mix, which sounds like you'd have to set up a massively oversized wind capacity for it to run on almost windless days.

[@absalomdraconis]

These numbers have been run before, and the conclusion was that there is _no_ storage technology that allows solar & wind to support a 1st world economy, because the energy required to maintain the whole system pushes the total return below a required 7/1 return on invested energy (this was assuming solar-thermal with pumped-hydroelectric for storage, which capped out around 5/1 as the combination with the best return; the need for 7/1 was largely dictated by things like aluminum smelters, rather than houses or anything). Hydroelectric and nuclear are both capable of the needed returns, but there aren't enough usable hydroelectric sites, and the very people most concerned with the environment tend to be extremely anti-nuclear, so the options that are easiest to do turn out to not match at all with the options that will meet our actual needs.

[@fenrirr22]

@@absalomdraconis That is the problem, when your Environmentalists are radical Luddites who bases their agenda based on ideology and not real science. The status quo remains the same until this doesn't change, which means less and less nuclear more and more fossil and renewable and our GHG emission increases constantly. The same people who want to save the planet based on their words are the biggest obstacle in the way to reduce our GHG emissions.

[@orkin2525]

@Daniel Meyers the current supply lithium and cobalt is one of the major limiting factors for lithium batteries. If you attempt to run every vehicle not to mention cargo ship with them the supply will not be able to keep up. You would need several times the cobalt supply in the Congo to just power cargo shipping, and you would need batteries that are about 8-10 times more power dense to even try. Or you could just put the proven technology of nuclear power plants on cargo shipping and shipping would be carbon free, faster, and need fewer ships.

[@tigershark2328]

You know when you learn something recently in school and it is mentioned in an educational video? I recently learned about electronegativity and now am squealing while typing this comment out.

[@luongmaihunggia]

1:36 How is pumped hydro storage "not scalable"? You can't just make claims without proof. Fact: the world's largest pump hydro storage facility is 24000MWh which is larger than the world's largest grid battery 300MWh. "Not scalable" my ass. Fact: pump hydro storage make up for 95% of grid energy storage. "Not scalable" my ass.

[@wolfy1398]

@@luongmaihunggia you know, kinda funny, how you say 95% of the world's grid energy storage is pumped hydro storage, when lithium-ion grid batteries have been around for less than 10 years, while pumped hydro is over 100 years old

[@Tom-cc1wl]

@@luongmaihunggia Sounds like you don’t know the difference between scalability and scale. If you want to scale up a battery storage facility you literally just add more batteries. If you want to increase pumped hydro capacity you need to undergo a massive earth-moving operation to increase the size of your upper and lower reservoirs and you need a source of additional water to boot.

[@PhxElecAuto]

The Tesla Power Wall, Power Pack and Mega pack are being added to the GRID by the Mega Watt. Homes are adding the Power Walls. These get better each year. Many others you tell about just talk while Tesla delivers.

[@davidsheer1239]

Great presentation. Thanks!

[@palmada]

The most interesting thing I learned from this video is that Japan has two different power grids =p

[@xyzpdq1122]

Glad I’m not the only one that noticed that! What a nightmare.

[@gun10ck]

Fukoshima was the unfortunate result of that.

[@iareid8255]

Gun, what! Fukoshma was due to a tsunami.

[@miguelpereira9859]

@@gun10ck How was fukushima a result of different power grids???

[@TheThirdRail]

USA has 3

[@armanke13]

"This is NASA price point" Elon Musk: hmm..? Interesting..

[@PhillipAmthor]

Also elon: battery goes brrrrr

[@mathew00]

I hear ya. SLS has cost about 18.6 billion as of now for only development. SpaceX valuation is 46 billion. I bet SpaceX has spent less on their entire program including all development (inc. Starlink) and launches than SLS development + future launches. The US Federal Government wont spend money unless it's spread around to different states. If 80% of the money got funneled into one state even though they would be spending 80% less they couldn't pass it. Imagine the money wasted in defense spending. I'm sure they buy "million dollar toilets" and no one will ever know. I got the SLS development cost from their Wiki page on 1/3/2021. Also go the SpaceX valuation from the SpaceX wiki page on 1/3/2021.

[@shhmule]

I'm not familiar with Elon commenting on that statement. What was Elon referring to as 'intersting'?

[@leesnyder9144]

@@shhmule sorry dude, its a joke about Musk buying NASA

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

Manufacturing a dozen ceramic seals for a rocket and a space station would be crazy expensive (at least ten thousand dollars, probably much more), yes. But manufacturing a billion of these parts for use in batteries could possibly cost less than a billion dollars.

[@massivecumshot]

Zinc/iron flow batteries for big, heavy, utility scale applications are the cheapest kWH potential per ton of material out there. Still some scalability and longevity factors out there, but these elements are still the lowest cost to mine and extract.