Bill Gates & ​Friends Playing ​with Water to ​Reduce Global ​Co2

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Bill Gates & ​Friends Playing ​with Water to ​Reduce Global ​Co2

BEV, a group of billionaires, revealed the first two startups that they will be investing in: Form Energy and Quidnet Energy

In 2016, Quartz reported that a group of billionaires—including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Mukesh Ambani, and Richard Branson—launched Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) to invest at least $1 billion in creating those technologies.

Now, 18 months later, Quartz can reveal the first two startups that BEV will be investing in: Form Energy and Quidnet Energy. Both companies are developing new technologies to store energy, but taking completely different approaches to achieve that goal.

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Playing with water

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The most widely used form of energy storage currently is pumped hydro. It’s an old technology that works by using excess electricity to pump water up to a reservoir when there is surplus energy, and then releasing the water to run turbines when energy is needed. But it has geographical limitations, requiring access to two reservoirs at different altitudes. Building those can cause a loss of biodiversity or force the migration of people settled in the area.

Quidnet’s technology uses water to store energy, but without the need for rivers or dams. Instead, it uses excess electricity to pump water into the underground shale rock found in new wells dug for the purpose or in abandoned oil-and-gas wells. After water fills up tiny cracks in the rock, forcing more in creates pressure, which compresses shale like a spring. When energy is needed, the pressure is let off and the water that gushes out is used to run turbines that re-generate electricity.

Before BEV’s investment, Quidnet had raised $1.5 million through the Clean Energy Venture Group and Prime Coalition. In 2016, the startup ran tests in Texas and Nevada to show that the technology can work. Next, it will use the $6.4 million raised through BEV and Evok Innovations on more field trials to develop the technology, which, according to Joe Zhou, the company’s CEO, can offer energy storage at much lower costs than pumped hydro, while avoiding the inherent disadvantages of building dams and surface reservoirs.

Read full article: Quartz

Find out more: Quidnet Energy

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