The challenge in making the process clean lies, at least in part, in the fact that lava-like high temperatures — more than 1,500 °C (2,700 °F) — are needed to start the chemical reactions that make cement.
Queens Carbon has developed a new process that reduces the required temperature to below 540 °C (1,000 °F), making it easier to reach that temperature efficiently using electricity while still keeping the material warm, Daniel Kopp, the company's CEO, CTO, and co-founder, said at a press conference announcing the award. Ideally, that power would be provided by renewable energy, potentially significantly reducing emissions.
Queens Carbon also received $14.5 million, which should help fund a pilot plant it's currently building with a major cement manufacturer, Kopp said at the press conference. The company plans to scale up to a full-size plant in late 2028 or 2029.
Ion Storage System: Next-generation battery for EVs
The world is always looking for better batteries, and Maryland-based Ion Storage Systems hopes to answer that call with its solid-state lithium metal technology.
We selected lithium metal batteries as one of the 10 biggest breakthrough technologies for 2021. This chemistry offers higher energy density, which has the potential to extend EV driving range.
Ion Storage Systems plans to produce batteries for military customers first, but the $20 million in funding could help it prepare its technology for larger-scale production for a broader segment of the electric vehicle market.
It was interesting to hear CTO Greg Hitz talk about the company's focus on manufacturing during the press call, as scaling up manufacturing has been a big challenge for other companies trying to make solid-state batteries. Hitz also noted that their batteries don't require high pressure compression or heating within the cells, making them easier to incorporate into battery packs.
