Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough

[aGENT]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/business/heliogen-solar-energy-bill-gates/index.html

 

*Video in link

 

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Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough

New York (CNN Business)A secretive startup backed by Bill Gates has achieved a solar breakthrough aimed at saving the planet.

Heliogen, a clean energy company that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, said it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect so much sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius.

 

Essentially, Heliogen created a solar oven — one capable of reaching temperatures that are roughly a quarter of what you'd find on the surface of the sun.

 

The breakthrough means that, for the first time, concentrated solar energy can be used to create the extreme heat required to make cement, steel, glass and other industrial processes. In other words, carbon-free sunlight can replace fossil fuels in a heavy carbon-emitting corner of the economy that has been untouched by the clean energy revolution.

 

"We are rolling out technology that can beat the price of fossil fuels and also not make the CO2 emissions," Bill Gross, Heliogen's founder and CEO, told CNN Business. "And that's really the holy grail."

 

Heliogen, which is also backed by billionaire Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, believes the patented technology will be able to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industry. Cement, for example, accounts for 7% of global CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.

 

"Bill and the team have truly now harnessed the sun," Soon-Shiong, who also sits on the Heliogen board, told CNN Business. "The potential to humankind is enormous. ... The potential to business is unfathomable."

 

Heliogen, backed by Bill Gates, has achieved a breakthrough that could allow cement makers to transition away from fossil fuels. The company uses artifical intelligence and an array of mirrors to create vast amounts of heat, essentially harnessing the power of the sun.

 

Unlike traditional solar power, which uses rooftop panels to capture the energy from the sun, Heliogen is improving on what's known as concentrated solar power. This technology, which uses mirrors to reflect the sun to a single point, is not new.

 

Concentrated solar has been used in the past to produce electricity and, in some limited fashion, to create heat for industry. It's even used in Oman to provide the power needed to drill for oil.

 

The problem is that in the past concentrated solar couldn't get temperatures hot enough to make cement and steel.

 

"You've ended up with technologies that can't really deliver super-heated systems," said Olav Junttila, a partner at Greentech Capital Advisors, a clean energy investment bank that has advised concentrated solar companies in the past.

 

Using artificial intelligence to solve the climate crisis

That means renewable energy has not yet disrupted industrial processes such as cement and steelmaking. And that's a problem because the world has an insatiable appetite for those materials. Cement, for instance, is used to make the concrete required to build homes, hospitals and schools. These industries are responsible for more than a fifth of global emissions, according to the EPA.

 

That's why the potential of Los Angeles-based Heliogen attracted investment from Gates, the Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder who recently surpassed Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person.

 

"I'm pleased to have been an early backer of Bill Gross's novel solar concentration technology," Gates said in a statement. "Its capacity to achieve the high temperatures required for these processes is a promising development in the quest to one day replace fossil fuel."

 

Heliogen, founded by Bill Gross, must convince industrial companies it's worth the investment to switch over to its solar technology.

 

While other concentrated solar companies attacked this temperature problem by adding steel to make the technology stiffer and sturdier, Heliogen and its team of scientists and engineers turned to artificial intelligence.

 

Heliogen uses computer vision software, automatic edge detection and other sophisticated technology to train a field of mirrors to reflect solar beams to one single spot.

 

"If you take a thousand mirrors and have them align exactly to a single point, you can achieve extremely, extremely high temperatures," Gross said, who added that Heliogen made its breakthrough on the first day it turned its plant on.

 

Heliogen said it is generating so much heat that its technology could eventually be used to create clean hydrogen at scale. That carbon-free hydrogen could then be turned into a fuel for trucks and airplanes.

 

"If you can make hydrogen that's green, that's a gamechanger," said Gross. "Long term, we want to be the green hydrogen company."

 

'No-brainer'

For now, Heliogen is squarely focused on solar. One problem with solar is that the sun doesn't always shine, yet industrial companies like cement makers have a constant need for heat. Heliogen said it would solve that issue by relying on storage systems that can hold the solar energy for rainy days.

 

Now that it has made this breakthrough, Heliogen will focus on demonstrating how the technology can be used in a large-scale application, such as making cement.

 

"We're in a race. We just want to scale as fast as possible," said Gross.

 

After the large-scale application, Soon-Shiong said Heliogen would likely be ready to go public.

 

In the meantime, Heliogen will require a healthy dose of capital to scale and it's working with investors on a private round of funding. Soon-Shiong signaled he plans to invest more in Heliogen. Heliogen declined to provide information on how much money it has raised so far.

 

"This is an existential issue for your children, for my children and our grandchildren," Soon-Shiong said.

 

Heliogen's biggest challenge will be convincing industrial companies using fossil fuels to make the investment required to switch over. Gross said the company has been talking to potential customers privately and plans to soon announce its first customers.

 

"If we go to a cement company and say we'll give you green heat, no CO2, but we'll also save you money, then it becomes a no-brainer," said Gross.

 

Its biggest selling point is the fact that, unlike fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, sunlight is free. And Heliogen argues its technology is already economical against fossil fuels because of its reliance on AI.

 

"The only way to compete is to be extremely clever in how you use your materials. And by using software, we're able to do that," Gross said.

 

[inane]

No no no, we need to just build more pipelines that are totally safe just don't look at the spill that happened last week or all the others oil good.

[Roberts]

that sounds really cool

[Alflives]

Fabulous clean technology.  Why does the company have to patent it though?  If we really want to (you know) save the planet, then why not make this technology free to all, and even go so far as to help others make it work in their cities and countries?  Why does the Almighty dollar, and human selfishness always have to supersede what's best for humanity?  My God people suck dirty Leaf socks.  

[Darius]

trying to find out if this company is traded on one of the stock exchanges, probably too late!

 

 

 

[JM_]

4 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Fabulous clean technology.  Why does the company have to patent it though?  If we really want to (you know) save the planet, then why not make this technology free to all, and even go so far as to help others make it work in their cities and countries?  Why does the Almighty dollar, and human selfishness always have to supersede what's best for humanity?  My God people suck dirty Leaf socks.  

no one's going to invest if they can't make money off it, hence patent. Its a good system, someone else can come along and build a better mousetrap.

[JM_]

very cool @aGENT 

 

I'd like to see some of these around the Osoyoos area, could probably save having to make any more hydro power. 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Jimmy McGill said:

no one's going to invest if they can't make money off it, hence patent. Its a good system, someone else can come along and build a better mousetrap.

Governments will spend the money for this kind of technology.  If these people are really trying to save our planet then don't patent the tech, and share it with everyone.  They are selfish money hungry humans, who pray to the "Golden Calf", just like the most of the rest of us do.  We are doomed.  

[xereau]

7 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Fabulous clean technology.  Why does the company have to patent it though?  If we really want to (you know) save the planet, then why not make this technology free to all, and even go so far as to help others make it work in their cities and countries?  Why does the Almighty dollar, and human selfishness always have to supersede what's best for humanity?  My God people suck dirty Leaf socks.  

Its not always sunny everywhere. The batteries lose efficiency at a rate that makes them economically unsustainable, and, here is the kicker, the carbon dioxide to mine the rare earth minerals to make their "world saving technology", is killing the world (according to their own metrics).

This is just another scam, and its probably got billions of tax dollars behind it, because, well, all of the so called philanthropists do.

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

very cool @aGENT 

 

I'd like to see some of these around the Osoyoos area, could probably save having to make any more hydro power. 

That would be nice, and on the prairie sunsoaked plains too.  However, it's not happening because the cost of the technology (because it's patented) will be prohibitive.  Oil and gas will continue to be less expensive.  

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, xereau said:

Its not always sunny everywhere. The batteries lose efficiency at a rate that makes them economically unsustainable, and, here is the kicker, the carbon dioxide to mine the rare earth minerals to make their "world saving technology", is killing the world (according to their own metrics).

This is just another scam, and its probably got billions of tax dollars behind it, because, well, all of the so called philanthropists do.

And the propaganda machines that the media is for these wealthy elite will continue to spin the yarns so the people think their tax dollars are really going to good works.  Rich get richer, and the worker bees continue to "weave their own burial shrouds", believing they are doing what is good. (Shelley)

[theo5789]

12 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Fabulous clean technology.  Why does the company have to patent it though?  If we really want to (you know) save the planet, then why not make this technology free to all, and even go so far as to help others make it work in their cities and countries?  Why does the Almighty dollar, and human selfishness always have to supersede what's best for humanity?  My God people suck dirty Leaf socks.  

Unfortunately if they don't patent it, someone else will and take their share. That's the reality. It is up to the people that patented it to decide if they want to sell it for "cheap" to make it more accessible to everyone.

[xereau]

1 minute ago, Alflives said:

And the propaganda machines that the media is for these wealthy elite will continue to spin the yarns so the people think their tax dollars are really going to good works.  Rich get richer, and the worker bees continue to "weave their own burial shrouds", believing they are doing what is good. (Shelley)

People that believe they are saving the world by driving electric cars, need to drive for 11 years to offset the carbon emissions from what it cost to mine the metals to make the battery which they use to drive around in.  Sounds awesome, right? Well, the average lifespan of an electric car's battery is six years.  I think you can do the math, aye? The technology isn't there yet, and those wishing it was, is nothing more than just that.

[JM_]

8 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Governments will spend the money for this kind of technology.  If these people are really trying to save our planet then don't patent the tech, and share it with everyone.  They are selfish money hungry humans, who pray to the "Golden Calf", just like the most of the rest of us do.  We are doomed.  

why would anyone put up the risk capital Alf if they didn't have a patent? the people designing this thing are taking huge financial risks. Development projects tank all the time and no one is there to bail those folks out. They deserve to reap some rewards from their hard work, just like anyone else. 

[Lancaster]

18 minutes ago, inane said:

No no no, we need to just build more pipelines that are totally safe just don't look at the spill that happened last week or all the others oil good.

Because Rare Earth Elements has no environmental or political impact now?

[xereau]

2 minutes ago, Lancaster said:

Because Rare Earth Elements has no environmental or political impact now?

Ssshhhh, you are breaking the envirofascists' smugbubble.

[JM_]

10 minutes ago, Alflives said:

That would be nice, and on the prairie sunsoaked plains too.  However, it's not happening because the cost of the technology (because it's patented) will be prohibitive.  Oil and gas will continue to be less expensive.  

you're mistaken Alf, patents don't set the costs, markets do. If this company tries to get a price thats too far out of line with the market it won't work. 

[JM_]

5 minutes ago, xereau said:

People that believe they are saving the world by driving electric cars, need to drive for 11 years to offset the carbon emissions from what it cost to mine the metals to make the battery which they use to drive around in.  Sounds awesome, right? Well, the average lifespan of an electric car's battery is six years.  I think you can do the math, aye? The technology isn't there yet, and those wishing it was, is nothing more than just that.

the problem with that number is it doesn't compare the carbon cost of making a conventional car vs an electric. IF you're going to own a car at all, it is better for the environment to drive an electric. 

[Ronaldoescobar]

Interesting.... Swear I’ve seen experiments in the past doing this although that may have been related more to do with light sail travel in space...

 

Either way the ppl trying to make money off it will love it and the ppl who are threatened with losing money will oppose it.. Climate change/environmental pros/cons are background noise and dismissed. Money and greed make the world go round.

[inane]

3 minutes ago, Lancaster said:

Because Rare Earth Elements has no environmental or political impact now?

I never said anything about rare earth elements? Simply making the point that alternatives exist/are continually coming and investing billions in deepening our reliance on 100 year old technology is dumb.

 

Just now, xereau said:

Ssshhhh, you are breaking the envirofascists' smugbubble.

envirofascists lol. always entertaining how fast that bs comes out.