Malta: Breakthrough Energy Storage is Here
All that beautiful clean energy needs storage in order to capture the energy from the sun and wind throughout the day. But expensive storage technologies with rare Earth minerals like lithium and cobalt have held back their production and adoption.
Today, the promise of inexpensive energy storage using commonly found materials is here.
Salt. That’s what this technology is based on. Molten salt to be exact.
Malta
Malta began its life at X, Google’s secretive Moonshot Factory where Waymo, the leading self-driving car company, was also born.
Malta’s technology supplements lithium-ion batteries, storing large grid-scale energy where batteries would not suffice. The closest comparable technology is pumped hydro or compressed air, but without the specific geographical requirements like a lake or big elevation change.
We’ve previously written about the details of current grid-scale energy storage: “The 2nd Cleantech Wave: Energy Storage”.
This new method of energy storage will likely get placed near generation like wind or solar farms in rural or even suburban areas. Here’s how it works:
Investment
Because of the tremendous demand for energy storage, lots of people are racing to develop a winning technology. Therefore, the storage industry has become ripe for cleantech investment:
Malta raised $26M, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the billion-dollar cleantech venture capital fund made up of billionaires including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Jack Ma. Breakthrough Energy Ventures uniquely provides high-risk startups with patient capital, investing for long-term success, unlike most VCs that must cash out their investment within a decade. This gives a company like Malta the time it needs to develop a massive cleantech breakthrough.
Stay tuned as Malta uses the funding to develop a pilot system to bring this innovation to life.
ACT ON CLIMATE
If you’re a student at UC San Diego or UC Berkeley, you’ve got two great organizations dedicated to progressing sustainability on your campus.
UC San Diego Inter-Sustainability Council (ISC): In an effort to promote engagement and education, ISC hosts several events per year, such as annual Green Talks (a TED-style talk focused on sustainability), as well as a Sustainability Vendor Fair and Career Fair. Email isc@ucsd.edu for questions.
UC Berkeley Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC): On April 10th students can meet employers, graduate program ambassadors, and alumni from various roles and niches of the Environmental and Sustainability Jobs Sector. If you would like to request to attend, please fill out this application form no later than Tuesday, March 22nd.
