Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Microsoft AI discovers 18 new battery materials in two weeks...It needed just 80 hours to do something that would normally take years.
FreeThink ^ | January 17, 2024 | By Kristin Houser

Posted on 01/19/2024 1:05:22 PM PST by Red Badger

Using AI and cloud computing, Microsoft was able to identify promising new battery materials for the Department of Energy (DoE) — in a fraction of the time it would usually take.

The challenge: Batteries are an essential part of the clean energy future. We need them to power electric vehicles and to store energy from solar and wind.

Currently, lithium-ion batteries are our best option for both of these uses, but they aren’t ideal. Because lithium is relatively scarce, it’s also expensive, and the metal is often unethically mined using child labor and environmentally destructive processes.

Identifying better battery materials is a time-consuming process, though.

“It’s always trial and error,” Vijay Murugesan, head of the Material Sciences Group at the DoE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), told Fast Company.

“Something comes up in my dreams or the shower, and then I come in and spend two years testing whether it works or not, and then you go back and do that cycle again for a decade,” he continued. “The success rate is not that great, to be honest.”

What’s new? To speed up that process, PNNL teamed up with Microsoft.

Using a combination of AI models and cloud computing, the tech giant simulated potential chemical combinations for batteries, starting from a list of 32.6 million materials. Within just 80 hours, it had identified 18 promising candidates for new battery materials.

“Something that could have taken years, we did in two weeks,” Jason Zander, an executive VP at Microsoft, told Reuters.

Looking ahead: PNNL scientists have already synthesized one of the candidate battery materials for testing — if it performs well, it could enable production of batteries containing 70% less lithium.

They also expect Microsoft’s technology to lead to the discovery of far more than just new battery materials.

“That’s the part we’re most excited about … We just picked one problem,” said Zander. “There are thousands of problems to go solve, and it’s applicable to all of them.”

VIDEO AT LINK....................


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Military/Veterans; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: ai; battery; energy; fakenews; technology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 last
To: Jonty30
Sorry. 13MJ/kg

Comparing the energy density of fuels should take into consideration the fact that in a combustion engine the vast majority of fuel energy is lost as waste heat. Electric motors on the other hand are supremely efficient.

The exact numbers depend on the particular engine or electric motor, but I think it's conservative to assume the electric motor will be at least 3x efficient as ICE.

81 posted on 01/19/2024 6:12:31 PM PST by JustaTech (My mind is the weapon. Everything else is tools.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Jonty30
" I said you can’t store it, because you can’t store it."


82 posted on 01/19/2024 6:26:01 PM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

And how many decades will it take for all the unintended, undesirable consequences of these materials to become apparent? Maine is dealing with PFAS residue that was spread on farmland in what seemed like a great idea at the time. That land may be unrecoverable, or prohibitive to treat. This kind of thing happens over and over again; we never learn.


83 posted on 01/19/2024 6:31:29 PM PST by _longranger81
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jonty30

“I also said that it makes metals brittle, because it makes metals brittle.”

Not all metals.

I was a tech on O2 generators. These generators used metal to confine the 3000 psig hydrogen. Metal piping was used to vent it overboard.

You said hydrogen embrittlement would destroy vehicle tank. FYI, those tanks are composite materials, not metal.


84 posted on 01/19/2024 6:31:32 PM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: Jonty30

“do you think they can afford $15/gallon of hydrogen”

Sold by the pound, not gallon.


85 posted on 01/19/2024 6:33:37 PM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: Jonty30

“Come back to me in a million years and we’ll see.”

Considering you don’t have any idea where the earth and Mars would be in a million years I don’t need to wait.

What materials are you going to use to withstand the suns heat and radiation when it passes close by?


86 posted on 01/19/2024 6:39:32 PM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: Jonty30

You want either BTUs or kilowatt hours. 1 kilowatt hour is equal to 3,412 BTUs.

There are approximately 125,000 BTUs in a gallon of gasoline.

You could also use joules, but that unit is not commonly used for the purposes of expressing electricity use (after all, your electric bill is in kilowatt hours, not joules).


87 posted on 01/19/2024 8:25:09 PM PST by brianl703
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: kawhill

“I would have to think that Biden’s Fed Gov is monitoring, disseminating and cataloging every statement that is made on this website.”

~~~~~~~

Yeah...
I make them anyway.
They cancelled me from Twitter, with all the other Anons Jan 8, 2021.
(Let me know if #PedoDementoCorruptoCrat still works on Twitter... (X, now)


88 posted on 01/19/2024 9:23:59 PM PST by EasySt (Say not this is the truth, but so it seems to me to be, as I see this thing I think I see. #MAGA-A)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: EasySt

I do too. Regards.


89 posted on 01/20/2024 1:34:58 AM PST by kawhill (kawhill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 88 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Thanks for your links, Red Badger.

The battery list appears to be more focused and testable than some of the huge lists I have seen before.


90 posted on 01/20/2024 2:35:44 AM PST by zeestephen (Trump "Lost" By 43,000 Votes - Spread Across Three States - GA, WI, AZ)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

If (fake) AI found these ‘new’ ideas by searching, then someone already knew about it. A glorified search engine is not AI.


91 posted on 01/20/2024 4:43:08 AM PST by BlackbirdSST (Trump or Bust! Long live the Republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BlackbirdSST

AI is really just a big database with a very fast search engine.

It is not going to become “self aware”. It IS useful, but its not scary.


92 posted on 01/20/2024 4:59:45 AM PST by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt
AI is really just a big database with a very fast search engine. It is not going to become “self aware”. It IS useful, but its not scary.

Agree.

93 posted on 01/20/2024 5:42:02 AM PST by BlackbirdSST (Trump or Bust! Long live the Republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Maybe AI can solve the natural born citizen qualification for presidential candidates...

Oh wait! It’s already looked at the issue:
McCain - qualified
Obama - qualified
Cruz - qualified
Ramaswamy - qualified
Haley - qualified
Trump - not qualified

Say it isn’t so! /sarc


94 posted on 01/20/2024 6:26:27 AM PST by OrioleFan (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, Democrats believe every day is April 15th.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: brianl703

The Wikipedia page gave the equivalents for all fuels and that’s what I went with. I think equivalents is better for the purpose of discussions on comparing fuel and their efficiencies.


95 posted on 01/20/2024 8:15:41 AM PST by Jonty30 (In a nuclear holocaust, there is always a point in time where the meat is cooked to perfection. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

However they will sell it, it will be sold at a higher rate than gasoline.


96 posted on 01/20/2024 8:16:14 AM PST by Jonty30 (In a nuclear holocaust, there is always a point in time where the meat is cooked to perfection. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

I appreciate that, thank you.
I’m sure they would also figure out make composites for the whole fuel line as well.


97 posted on 01/20/2024 8:16:53 AM PST by Jonty30 (In a nuclear holocaust, there is always a point in time where the meat is cooked to perfection. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

How long do they store it for and can the pressure they use to store it be used for your car?

I doubt it.


98 posted on 01/20/2024 8:17:32 AM PST by Jonty30 (In a nuclear holocaust, there is always a point in time where the meat is cooked to perfection. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 82 | View Replies]

To: Fledermaus

Actually it is


99 posted on 01/21/2024 9:33:28 AM PST by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson