DADDY, WHAT WAS LITHIUM?:

The cost of the lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones and electric cars has dropped by 97% since the technology first came on the market in 1991. But it still isn't quite cheap enough to be the best solution for the electric grid--as wind and solar power replace fossil fuels, the grid needs even less expensive options for long-term storage of power when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. Finding lithium for batteries also involves damaging mining operations. Current batteries also aren't a good solution for something like a cargo ship traveling a long distance, since you'd need so many batteries that it would take up the available space.

A Bay Area startup called Noon Energy is working on one alternative: an ultra-low-cost rechargeable battery that would be powered by CO2 that's been split into carbon and oxygen using excess energy produced when renewable supply is high (though the company is tight-lipped about the details of the tech). While other batteries now use pricier materials like lithium and cobalt, the company hopes it can radically lower long-term storage costs by using carbon and oxygen as storage materials. The company's basic technology can also be used in other ways: NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has it on board in a toaster-size box and recently used it to extract oxygen from the CO2 on Mars.

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