Like sand in the desert - like salt in the seaThe doomsday sect "Limits to Growth" constantly want to make us believe in a hopeless situation by denying renewable energy and recycling.
Believers of the doomsday sect "Limits to Growth" constantly want to make us believe in a hopeless situation. After all, the bible of this religion denies renewable energy and recycling. Without renewable energy and recycling, our situation would really be just as rotten as presented in this book. But now that there is obviously more and more renewable energy, they are trying to cast doubt on the fact that there are nowhere near enough raw materials for it. The 2 most crucial things for a functional energy transition are photovoltaics and batteries. The most important material for photovoltaics is silicon. Most of the sand deposits consist of quartz (silicon dioxide SiO2), hence the saying "like sand in the desert". Until now, lithium was the decisive material for a decent battery, everything else could be forgotten. The main lines of rechargeable batteries were lithium cobalt ion, lithium manganese and lithium iron phosphate. Here is the evolution of lithium usage and lithium mining. In the annual report of 1996 there are 12 million tons of mineable deposits. Of course, even then it was known that 0.1 ppm of lithium occurs in seawater. 0.1 ppm are after all 100 tons per km³. 100 tons are about 10,000 pieces of 100 kWh batteries. But it is called "mineable", i.e. technically and economically possible to mine. In the annual report of 2022 there are 89 million tons of mineable reserves. This can be combined 3 reasons: more exploration, better mining methods, higher prices (the limit of "mineable" is shifted upwards). 89 million tons is still 100 kWh battery for each of 10 billion people. Surely the mineable deposits will increase in the next years. It could also reach the point where filtering from seawater is technically and economically feasible.
Salt is NaCl - sodium and chlorine. CATL begins production of sodium batteries. Electric scooter manufacturer NIU has already announced mopeds with sodium batteries for 2023. The GEMINI next generation house will also use sodium batteries. Currently, they are at 160 Wh/kg. The best Lithium Cobalt Ion cells have 270 Wh/kg and Lithium Iron Phosphate is at 230 Wh/kg. This was not always the case. BYD had always relied on its own lithium iron phosphate cells. The first electric car with more than 2 seats and over 300 km range was not the Tesla S, but the BYD e6 in 2010. Here is my report on the BYD e6 from the Geneva Motor Show 2010. At that time, battery technology was still very weighty: 700 kg battery for 60 kWh, only 86 Wh per kg. The BYD e6 was mostly used as a cab and had the temperament of the legendary Mercedes Diesel Taxi a 1/2 century ago with 70 kW engine power for 2 tons curb weight. Around 2016, there was a better version with an 80 kWh battery that produced 117 Wh/kg from 700 kg. Exactly as much as in 2008 with the first generation of the Tesla Roadster. This is still significantly less than the first generation of sodium batteries with 160 Wh/kg. CATL believes that the next generation of sodium batteries will already reach 200 Wh/kg. It could well happen that in the future lithium cobalt ion will be used in the most expensive cars, lithium iron phosphate in the middle class and sodium in cheap cars, stationary applications and large ships. If a 200,000 t ship has 50,000 t sodium batteries on board, then this is also 10,000 MWh for the 2nd generation and 50 MW of propulsion can be supplied for 200 hours. This is the range of large container and cruise ships.
Drastically generate more renewable energy, drastically reduce unnecessary energy consumption. When a family moves to a GEMINI next generation house, both are realized, even if the house is placed in a cheap area where more driving is required. Let's assume that the demand increases from 10,000 km to 25,000 km per year. The previous dwelling burned 20,000 kWh of natural gas per year for heating and hot water. For the 10,000 km of annual driving, 600 liters with about 6,000 kWh of energy content were burned. This compares to 800 kWh of self-produced solar power for heating and hot water and 4,200 kWh of self-produced solar power for driving after the move. Moving and switching to an electric car not only added 33,000 kWh/a - 5,000 kWh/a (space heating, hot water, driving) = 28,000 kWh/a of solar power generation, but also eliminated 26,000 kWh/a of thermal energy consumption.
An account for "GEMINI next Generation AG in Gründung" was prepared at RAIKA Salzburg on August 2, 2022. On Tuesday I was informed that a legal question still had to be clarified. I received the answer on Friday: The account cannot be activated until I can prove that I have more than €70,000 at my disposal. The solution to this problem: the money is collected at the account of the Association for the Promotion of Infinitism. Investing in such turbulent times? Right now! The GEMINI next generation house is the ideal product for such turbulent times. It's practically like selling extremely safe and comfortable lifeboats aboard the Titanic. The incorporation with €70,000 share capital is organized in €1,000 investment packages of 700 shares each and a 0.05% allotment certificate. Through the allotment certificate, the owner will be allotted every 2,000th of the newly issued shares in future capital increases. It is possible to purchase 2 to 4 investment packages in the first phase. In special cases, this can be reduced to one. This gives the first investors a considerable advantage over later investors. Around 2027, I expect a market capitalization of one billion, then a €1,000 investment package is worth €500,000. If everything goes smoothly, a market capitalization like Tesla's is possible in 2045. Of course, Tesla has had very difficult times on the way up, most recently with the start of production of the Model 3. |
