Redox Flow Batteries: Innovations and Projects: Vanadium Flow Batteries Show Grid Storage and Overgeneration Management Capabilities: EV-Powering Other Potential Apps

      What exactly is a flow battery, and how does it differ from other batteries? Wikipedia explains:

“A flow battery, or redox flow battery (after reduction–oxidation), is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids that are pumped through the system on separate sides of a membrane. Ion transfer inside the cell (accompanied by current flow through an external circuit) occurs across the membrane while the liquids circulate in their respective spaces.”

“Various flow batteries have been demonstrated, including inorganic and organic forms. Flow battery design can be further classified into full flow, semi-flow, and membraneless.”

“The fundamental difference between conventional and flow batteries is that energy is stored in the electrode material in conventional batteries, while in flow batteries it is stored in the electrolyte.”

“A flow battery may be used like a fuel cell (where new charged negolyte (a.k.a. reducer or fuel) and charged posolyte (a.k.a. oxidant) are added to the system) or like a rechargeable battery (where an electric power source drives regeneration of the reducer and oxidant).”

     Redox-flow batteries are very efficient and have a longer service life than conventional batteries. Since the energy is stored in external tanks, the battery capacity can be scaled independently of the rated battery power. Liquid is utilized as the storage medium. There are many different kinds of flow batteries with different anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes. Energy conversion in flow batteries is similar to energy conversion in fuel cells. Energy density is typically similar to that of lead-acid batteries. Lifespan, however, is much longer for flow batteries. A flow battery’s capacity is determined by the volume of electrolyte. The surface area and number of cells (the cell stack) determine the power.

Flow batteries provide long-lasting, rechargeable energy storage, particularly for grid reliability. Unlike solid-state batteries, flow batteries store energy in liquid electrolyte, shown here in yellow and blue. Researchers at PNNL developed a cheap and effective new flow battery that uses a simple sugar derivative called β-cyclodextrin (pink) to speed up the chemical reaction that converts energy stored in chemical bonds (purple to orange), releasing energy (electrons) to power an external circuit. A parallel reversible process (red-green) in the positive catholyte solution balances the positive and negative charges during charge and discharge. Credit: Animation by Sara Levine, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

     

     The Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) in Germany tests materials, redox chemistry, cell stack development, and performs modeling and simulations for redox flow batteries. The Institute hosts Europe’s largest vanadium redox flow battery. They recently reached an important milestone in utilizing the battery to integrate variable wind and solar generation. They utilized their own storage platform to smooth the integration of curtailed wind and solar into energy storage. According to TechXplore:

"We have shown that renewable energy can be managed intelligently with our storage platform. This is a decisive step toward a stable, flexible and resilient electricity system based on renewable sources," explains Adj. Assoc. Prof. (UNSW, UQ) Dr. Jens Noack, Team Manager for Flow Batteries at Fraunhofer ICT.

     Apparently, the key to success is feeding the energy into the battery when appropriate and back into the grid when appropriate in a systematic, predictable way. Flow batteries, particularly vanadium flow batteries, could be one of the best means of storing and reintegrating curtailed wind and solar generation. As always with batteries, cost is a significant hurdle.

     Meanwhile, Swiss company nanoFlowcell is working on a flow battery for EVs that requires periodic electrolyte fill-ups but is also aiming for a 1200-mile range per tank of electrolytes. The battery is refueled rather than recharged. The external storage of electrolyte in redox flow battery design enables refueling. However, the flow battery technology still faces challenges regarding cost-effectiveness and scalability for mass EV adoption. They note that the concentration and volume of the electrolyte determine the range. The company’s technology is deployed in several car models and one aircraft with vertical takeoff capabilities. According to their website, nanoFlowcell’s bi-ION electrolyte is:

“…a precise mixture of metallic and non-metallic salts. The solution is then enriched with the specially designed bi-ION® molecule, our proprietary energy carrier.”

“Our specially formulated aqueous salt solution ensures that bi-ION® is easily transportable, pumpable, and performs reliably under extreme temperature conditions.”

“Flow cells, like nanoFlowcell®, differ from traditional batteries by separating energy conversion from storage. The energy output depends on the concentration and volume of the electrolyte solution, not the cell size. This allows nanoFlowcell® to be infinitely scalable, making it adaptable to a wide range of applications.”

nanoFlowcell - Functional Animation on Vimeo

     Other potential uses for flow batteries include drones, household energy storage, and consumer electronics. It should be interesting to see what comes from redox-flow battery tech. China deployed some vanadium flow batteries, beginning several years ago, for grid balancing capabilities. Research is ongoing for flow battery materials that are easier to obtain than mined materials like vanadium. Research in 2023 showed that additives such as the common food and medicine additive called β-cyclodextrin, derived from starch, can increase flow battery capacity and longevity by 60%. I am guessing that nanoFlowcell’s bi-ION has “proprietary” additives that enhance its capabilities.      

 

 

References:

 

New EV Battery Promises 1,200-Mile Range but Requires Fuel-Style Fill-Ups. Kathrine Frich, Dqgens News. October 27, 2024. New EV Battery Promises 1,200-Mile Range but Requires Fuel-Style Fill-Ups

Flow battery. Wikipedia. Flow battery - Wikipedia

Scientists make game-changing breakthrough with tech that could transform power grids: 'A decisive step'. Hannah Slusher. The Cool Down. August 26, 2025. Scientists make game-changing breakthrough with tech that could transform power grids: 'A decisive step'

Redox-flow batteries. Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT. Redox-flow batteries - Fraunhofer ICT

New storage platform delivers predictable renewable power regardless of weather conditions. Manuel Fuchs and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Andrew Zinin. TechXplore. June 24, 2025. New storage platform delivers predictable renewable power regardless of weather conditions

Record-Breaking Advances in Next-Generation Flow Battery Design. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, SciTechDaily. July 14, 2023. Record-Breaking Advances in Next-Generation Flow Battery Design

ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade LNG Liquefaction Technology: Monkey Island LNG Chooses It for Planned Louisiana Terminal

     ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade process is a proprietary LNG liquefaction technology that is efficient and can include recovery of heavier hydrocarbons and removal of nitrogen. Nitrogen content can be high for some natural gas sources, including parts of the Midland Basin Permian. ConocoPhillips explains the technology on its website:

“The Optimized Cascade process is based on three multi-staged, cascaded refrigerant circuits using pure refrigerants, brazed aluminum heat exchangers and insulated cold box modules. ConocoPhillips has optimized the heat integration to closely approach the natural gas and refrigerant cooling curves, resulting in a highly efficient process. Pure refrigerants of propane, ethylene and methane are utilized, since their physical properties are ideal for heat integration. The refrigerant properties are also well known and predictable, contributing to unrivaled operating ease and flexibility.”

     The use of brazed aluminum for heat exchangers and cold box modules leads to efficient heat transfer. This technology can accommodate different-sized LNG plants. It can include an integrated heavies removal unit (HRU) and/or a nitrogen rejection unit (NRU). The tech can be configured into a:

“two-trains-in-one” arrangement, where one train of highly reliable heat exchangers and related process equipment is served by two parallel refrigeration turbine/compressor trains. Pioneered by ConocoPhillips, this approach was first used in the Optimized Cascade process, and has become widely accepted as a design that provides the highest plant availability, along with the widest range of turndown capability in the LNG industry.”

     ConocoPhillips licenses the technology but also uses it in its own operated LNG plants. Thus, their expertise is integrated. They also employ subject matter experts to address every part of LNG plant design, operation, and maintenance. The full plant process is explained below in the description and schematics.

     Monkey Island LNG recently announced that they have selected ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade process for their planned 26-MMtpy liquefaction and export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The following is from the September 4 announcement:

“After an extensive technology selection study and analysis on multiple technologies, Monkey Island LNG selected the Optimized Cascade® process based on its operational flexibility, quick restart capabilities, high efficiency, and proven performance above nameplate capacity. The ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade Process will enable Monkey Island LNG to provide customers with long-term, secure, and competitively priced LNG supply. The decision marks a major milestone in advancing Monkey Island LNG’s mission to deliver TrueCost LNG™- a radically transparent, cost-efficient model that eliminates hidden fees and aligns incentives across the LNG value chain,” stated Greg Michaels, CEO of Monkey Island LNG.

“Darren Meznarich, who leads ConocoPhillips LNG Technology and Licensing, added “ConocoPhillips is pleased to support Monkey Island LNG with our new, mega-module Optimized Cascade template, designed to reduce costs, plot size and overall project risks for our clients.”

 

     

 

References:

 

Monkey Island LNG selects ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade process technology for $25-B LNG terminal. Gas Processing & LNG. September 4, 2025. Monkey Island LNG selects ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade process technology for $25-B LNG terminal | Gas Processing & LNG

Optimized Cascade Process. ConocoPhillips. Optimized Cascade Process | LNG Technology & Licensing - Optimized Cascade Process

Abundance 2025: Reviews and Observations: Roger Pielke Jr., Alex Trembath, and Emmet Penney Offer Their Takes

     The abundance movement has been deemed by some a means for the Democrats to rebrand after losing to Trump. In reality, it is much more than that. Since abundance is more or less synonymous with growth, it can be seen as a revised commitment to smart capitalism and a repudiation of ideas that emphasize scarcity, degrowth, austerity, and over-regulation. Abundance 2025 is the recent annual conference.

  

Pielke Jr.

     Climate impact scientist Roger Pielke Jr. offered a preview of the recent conference, followed by a review of it. In his preview, he gives a section where the conference organizers state the mission:

“The state of the abundance movement remains highly contested, interpreted variably across the ideological spectrum. For some, it represents an internal debate within the left, challenging progressive governance models. Others within the Democratic Party view abundance as a strategic framework to counter conservative populism. Many on the right see abundance as a practical reality—reflected in longstanding commitments to housing, energy independence, and deregulation. Conservatives often view it as a rightward policy shift paired with a broader messaging strategy to expand appeal across partisan lines.”

“The convergence of these perspectives into a unified movement is far from preordained. While many professionals have rallied around abundance initiatives, some influential voices caution against formalizing it into a mass movement.”

“What exists today is a cross-partisan coalition committed to accelerating economic growth, reinforcing American leadership in science and technology, dismantling bureaucratic inertia, restoring effective governance, and reducing the cost of living. Abundance is not an abstract ideal but a moral and civic imperative: to revitalize the nation’s productive base, support working families, and reassert democratic control over technocratic systems.”

     Thus, it becomes clear that abundance means different things to different people and crosses ideology and partisan divides. It tends to ignore social issues, especially those “hot-button” issues that tend to divide the populace and separate people into ideological enclaves.

     Pielke Jr. went to the conference with five questions that he sought the conference to answer. I will go over each of these.

1)        Is abundance really anything new? He answers that with Yes and No. He notes here that abundance advocates describe their focus as “figuring out how to make government work better to deliver more of the things that people value.” That, he says, is not new, since everyone wants to do that regardless of political persuasion. He notes that it was surprising to see “commitment to bipartisan cooperation, active debate and discussion, and productive disagreement. Political collegiality, curiosity, and collaboration do seem pretty new in 2025.” He emphasizes that democracy works better when people of different orientations are engaged together in discussion and debate rather than siloed into echo chambers.

2)        Is “abundance” just a euphemism for “growth”? He answers Yes. Here, he notes two Congressional Reps, one Democrat and one Republican, who spoke at the conference as part of the Build America Caucus. The emphasis on cross-partisan cooperation is a key to the success of the movement. The snippet below gives their focus: “

 

“Americans have lost faith in government because they don’t see results - they see gridlock, red tape, and delay. This self-imposed scarcity has led to out-of-control housing costs, a constricted energy grid system, and decades of infrastructure delays, all while foreign adversaries race ahead.”

 

3)        Do “abundance” advocates really want greater state capacity? His answer is Sorta. He notes that “many of the abundance folks want more state capacity to do the things they want to do (like build houses) and less that they don’t (like restricting legal immigration of those who might work in construction to build those houses).” However, he also notes that there was little discussion about how to improve or reform policy, a discussion that is needed.

4)        Where is Congressional reform in an “abundance” agenda? He answers that this was not discussed at all.

5)        Is “abundance” coherent? He answers Yes and No. He notes that many 30-ish people were in attendance, many focused specifically on the housing problem, especially in liberal cities. While that could energize other issues, he sees it as focused on local and state issues rather than national ones.

“…if abundance is to morph into anything with electoral consequences it will have to broaden, rebrand, and lose the urban, hipster, elite vibe that it carries with it.”

     He also mentions the possibility of the future being a post-Trump and post-Progressive future, one that I can certainly embrace.

 

Penney

      A nuclear advocate from the Foundation for American Innovation, Emmet Penney, also reviewed the conference. He notes that it focused on kitchen table issues like energy prices, economic growth, and housing costs. He found the bipartisanship refreshing, noting that bipartisan cooperation in energy often leads to the most durable policies. He emphasizes permit reform, long established as needed in conservative circles but only more recently championed by liberals.

     He mentions some conversations about permit reform he had at the conference. One in particular involved the possibility of a tradeoff between streamlining pipelines and streamlining electricity transmission lines to help the energy transition, noting that it would be fine. However, he also noted that there was talk of trading subsidies for those transmission lines, which would be an added subsidy to already heavily subsidized wind and solar, in exchange for removing red tape on pipelines, which, as Penney notes, can cost twice as much to deal with litigation from ideological environmentalists than to build the pipeline itself! He sees that as just too much.   

     Another conversation involved a Democrat county commissioner in Colorado who was happy about just approving fracking permits. Penney thinks that the participation of local and state people in the movement is a good development.

     Penney also thinks that there needs to be more participation from industry, finance/capital, and labor:

“Having people from the fracking, pipelines, renewable, nuclear, and utility space would promote both a moderating and informing impact on attendees and panelists alike.”    

“The absence of these perspectives felt very palpable to me. But there’s good news in even that. Abundance had many more attendees than it did just last year. And it’s showing definite signs of scaling up. That means greater opportunity to get more of these voices in the mix. There is no progress without iteration.”  (The conference had more than 600 attendees this year.)

 

Trembath

     Alex Trembath of The Ecomodernist, formerly the Breakthrough Institute, did not review the conference, but in his presentation, sought to clarify and define what the movement is and is not. From the title of his post in The Ecomodernist – ‘Bottom-Up Abundance: Emergent, Not Astroturf’, he wants to clarify that this is a movement of people coming together to contribute and define itself rather than a pre-planned entity. He emphasizes:

“We were not herded and orchestrated: we found each other.”

     He noted that attendees were in housing, energy, governance, tech, and more.

“I like to say that the different abundance factions use different nouns but similar verbs: build, densify, unleash, expand. But what I think brings us all together is not just a generic vocabulary or even just a broadly shared agenda.”

“We face an entirely new set of challenges in American politics and culture. It was one thing to build a more abundant society at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, or during the New Deal or the postwar era. Today, abundance faces novel headwinds, and it’s not just NIMBYs and degrowthers. Incumbency dynamics, regulatory bloat from decades of administrative inertia, technological stagnation, and what economists call cost-disease effects have made it difficult to deploy effective state capacity, to afford essential but labor-intensive goods and services like education and childcare, and to imagine let alone build a future more technologically advanced and, well, abundant than our own.”

     Trembath also mentions some of the criticism of the Abundance Movement, mostly from the left, suggesting that the movement was somehow illegitimate for including corporate people.

“The people and ideas in this ballroom pull on strands from multiple fields—think tanks, activists, organizers, elected officials, journalists, philanthropists, technologists and entrepreneurs and investors—and multiple ideological traditions—liberalism (classical and otherwise), urbanism, supply-side progressivism, state capacity libertarianism, industrial conservative populism, ecomodernism, humanism, effective altruism, and beyond. There are, as we learned this morning, many Varieties of Abundance. We’re all here not because we agree on everything that our corporate overlords tell us to believe, but to do the messy work of figuring out what unites us across differences, how we can collaborate to solve real material problems in the world, and whether this audacious thing called Abundance can meaningfully change American politics and culture.”

     In short, it is a movement that is very diversified in focus and in beliefs but is nonetheless focused as a whole on solving real-world problems in ways that are acceptable to different political factions.

 

    

References:

 

Abundance 2025 – Review. Roger Pielke Jr. The Honest Broker. September 5, 2025. Abundance 2025 - Review - by Roger Pielke Jr.

Bottom-Up Abundance: Emergent, Not Astroturf. Alex Trembath. The Ecomodernist. September 8, 2025. Bottom-Up Abundance - The Ecomodernist

Abundance 2025 – Preview: Five questions I'll be bringing to the conference this week. Roger Pielke Jr. The Honest Broker. September 1, 2025. Abundance 2025 - Preview - by Roger Pielke Jr.

Aboondance: Brief Reflections on the Abundance Conference. Emmet Penney. Nuclear Barbarians. September 9, 2025. Aboondance - by Emmet Penney - Nuclear Barbarians

EIA Tabulates Drops in Russian Natural Gas, Coal, and Oil Exports After War Sanctions: This is One Measure of Sanctions Effectiveness

     Hitting Russia’s energy exports is a key strategy to economically battling the regime’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. It is a strategy that has worked to a limited extent, but one that could be working much better if there were more coordination between countries and more consequences for those who are both buying Russian energy and taking advantage of the price controls enacted by the sanctions to get that energy cheaper than they otherwise would have gotten it. Counties like India and China are profiting from that pricing, basically profiting off the sanctions as well as limiting their effectiveness. This was tolerated at the beginning as an acceptable outcome. However, I do not think that it was expected that these countries would increase their buying of cheap gas and oil to the extent that they have. In one way, it is a slap in the face of the sanctions and the countries that have enacted the sanctions. In another way, it has enabled a sanctions-evading infrastructure and methodology to develop globally that involves clandestine shipping, clandestine transfers, blocking of navigation systems so ships can’t be tracked, and utilization of uninsurable ships that present potentially catastrophic environmental issues if there are spills. There has already been a collision between two ships due to one ship turning off tracking.

     The EIA keeps data and has published some graphs, shown below, of the changes in export output and export destinations for Russian natural gas and Russian coal. The EIA points out that gas pipelines from Russia have much more capacity to transport gas to Europe than to Asia. Russia has been working on developing the large Power of Siberia 2 Pipeline, which is expected to transport gas from Russia through Mongolia and into China. This will take time and only relieve some of China’s natural gas demand. It could be helpful to Mongolia, allowing it to potentially transition some from coal to natural gas for power generation. China and Russia have yet to fully agree on some aspects of the 2000-mile, large-diameter pipeline. It will take years to build.  

     The EIA noted in August that Russia’s oil and condensate exports have only decreased slightly since 2022 due to increased buying from Asia. The second graph below shows unequivocally that India has been the main buyer of Russian crude oil since 2022. 

     Before the war, India purchased a very small percentage of Russia’s oil and condensate, but quickly ramped that up to 35% in 2023 and 36% in 2024 and 2025. They basically show that India has been a strong economic supporter of Russia’s invasion. I agree with the Trump administration’s recent stance that India’s profiteering and sanctions-busting activities are in need of adjustment and should be counteracted. Modi might talk about peace, but is funding war and India. Tolerance is wearing thin.  

     Most of Russia’s rail infrastructure for delivering coal is also oriented toward Europe rather than Asia. Since the peak of Russia’s coal exports in 2021, they have dropped by about 25%. The story is similar to gas and oil, where the shift of exports has gone from Europe to Asia. For coal, China is the main buyer by far, with India buying a little more coal than previously.

References:

 

Russia’s natural gas and coal exports have been decreasing and shifting toward Asia. EIA. Today in Energy. September 3, 2025. Russia’s natural gas and coal exports have been decreasing and shifting toward Asia - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Russia's oil exports have decreased modestly since 2022, shifting toward Asia. EIA. Today in Energy. August 7, 2025. Russia's oil exports have decreased modestly since 2022, shifting toward Asia - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Fuel Cells with Lower Operating Temps Via Scandium Dopants and Vastly Expanded Lifespans Via Ultrafine Platinum Nanoparticles in Graphene Pockets as Catalysts Offer Significant Benefits: Long-Haul Trucking Can Benefit

     When considering low-emissions long-haul trucking, there are several advantages of hydrogen fuel cells compared to lithium battery power. One important one is that fuel cells are much lighter, up to eight times, than conventional battery tech. This means that tires will wear much more slowly. Faster fueling times are another advantage.

     Fuel cells convert chemical energy into electricity, similar to battery cells. They do this very efficiently. However, they operate at high temperatures, which can cause problems.

     Scandium, as a dopant, in combination with other materials, is showing promise that it can lead to lower operating temperatures in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Scandium-enhanced SOFCs have already succeeded in reducing operating temperatures from 900 °C to 600-800 °C. The new discovery with dopants allows them to potentially cut that to as low as 300 °C, which will have many benefits. Catalyst degradation has been an ongoing issue for fuel cells, but new research suggests that those problems will soon be overcome in a big way, and fuel cells will be enabled with ultra-long lifespans. Platinum alloy catalysts have been the norm, but can degrade faster than desired and lose efficiency through time. New research shows that catalysts made from ultrafine platinum nanoparticles in graphene pockets can eliminate nearly all of that degradability, with simulations suggesting that they can cycle for 200,000 hours. That is about 23 years if it were cycling 24 hours a day!

 

Scandium Dopants Add to Scandium’s SOFC Benefits

     Scandium is a very sought-after rare earth element. Unfortunately, the current supply of it, along with the processing/refining capacity of it, is just about 100% controlled by China. That keeps its price up for others but also down since China heavily subsidizes its REE sector. There are new sources being developed in the U.S. in mining projects, but I am unsure about processing. Scandium has been key in reducing the operating temperatures of SOFCs from 900 deg C to 600-800 deg C, and new research suggests that adding Scandium as a dopant along with certain other materials can reduce efficient operating temperatures down to 300 deg C. This would be a very good improvement. 

     Below are two lists of previous improvements afforded by scandium in SOFCs.

     The new research at Kyushu University in Japan shows that cubic perovskite oxides with heavy scandium doping can overcome limitations caused by proton trapping. The materials with perovskite structures utilized are barium stannate (BaSnO3) and barium titanate (BaTiO3), and when scandium is substituted become BaSn0.3Sc0.7O3–δ and BaTi0.2Sc0.8O3–δ. The materials were found to be chemically stable at 300 deg C, where the scandium can yield the benefits of lowering SOFC operating temperature. Basically, the experiments show that the required proton conductivity can be achieved at 300 deg C with the scandium dopants added to the materials. The researchers expect that the development of low-cost, low-temperature SOFCs will greatly accelerate the practical application of these devices. Lower materials costs are a big factor and could make consumer-level SOFC devices affordable.

     According to TechXplore:

"Structural analysis and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the Sc atoms link their surrounding oxygens to form a 'ScO₆ highway,' along which protons travel with an unusually low migration barrier. This pathway is both wide and softly vibrating, which prevents the proton-trapping that normally plagues heavily doped oxides," explains Yamazaki. "Lattice-dynamics data further revealed that BaSnO₃ and BaTiO₃ are intrinsically 'softer' than conventional SOFC materials, letting them absorb far more Sc than previously assumed."

"Beyond fuel cells, the same principle can be applied to other technologies, such as low-temperature electrolyzers, hydrogen pumps, and reactors that convert CO₂ into valuable chemicals, thereby multiplying the impact of decarbonization. Our work transforms a long-standing scientific paradox into a practical solution, bringing affordable hydrogen power closer to everyday life," concludes Yamazaki.

     Below are the paper's abstract and a figure from it.

 

 

Ultrafine Platinum Nanoparticles in Graphene Pockets as Catalysts

     New research at UCLA’s Samueli School of Engineering, led by engineering professor Yu Huang, suggests that a 200,000-hour cycling life can be achieved for SOFCs by making a new kind of catalyst for the SOFC chemical reaction. Currently, platinum alloys are used as catalysts. In 2024, this team announced that they had developed a new catalyst that could double the DOE’s target for fuel cell lifespan of 8,000 hours or 150,000 miles for an SOFC hydrogen vehicle. The research suggested they could reach 15,000 hours or nearly 300,000 miles. That research involved using cobalt-oxide molecules inside shells of platinum atoms. Now, a much greater potential improvement has been announced. The new design utilizes pure platinum, a graphene-protective layer, and porous carbon support. This new design overcomes the DOE’s target for 2050 by seven times. The result is that the new catalyst can achieve the same power as lithium-ion batteries at just one-eighth the weight. This result can be especially relevant for heavy-duty vehicles such as long-haul trucks. It can also mitigate the problem of accelerated tire wear in battery EVs. The graphene-encased nanoparticles were then nested inside the porous structure of Ketjenblack, a powdery carbon material that is very pure and has enhanced conductivity.   

“Heavy-duty fuel cell systems must withstand harsh operating conditions over long periods, making durability a key challenge,” said Huang, who holds the Traugott and Dorothea Frederking Endowed Chair at UCLA Samueli. “Our pure platinum catalyst, enhanced with a graphene-based protection strategy, overcomes the shortcomings of conventional platinum alloys by preventing the leaching of alloying elements. This innovation ensures that the catalyst remains active and robust, even under the demanding conditions typical of long-haul applications.”

     The research involved stress-testing and simulations to arrive at the 200,000-hour number and showed a power loss after that simulated time period of less than 1.1%. Below are the abstract of the paper and a depiction of the new catalyst structure.

 

    

 

References:

 

U.S. hydrogen car boasts fuel cell life of 200,000 hours. Alexander Clark. Morning Overview. September 4, 2025. U.S. hydrogen car boasts fuel cell life of 200,000 hours

Breakthrough US hydrogen fuel cell promises 200,000-hour life with minimal power loss. The new catalyst lost less than 1.1 percent power after 90,000 test cycles, far surpassing the U.S. Department of Energy’s 30,000-hour target. Georgina Jedikovska. Interesting Engineering. April 29, 2025. US’ new hydrogen fuel cell shows 1.1% power loss after 90,000 cycles

UCLA Breakthrough Extends Fuel Cell Lifespan Beyond 200,000 Hours, Paving the Way for Clean Long-Haul Trucking. UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. April 25, 2025. UCLA Breakthrough Extends Fuel Cell Lifespan Beyond 200,000 Hours, Paving the Way for Clean Long-Haul Trucking | UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering

Pt catalyst protected by graphene nanopockets enables lifetimes of over 200,000 h for heavy-duty fuel cell applications. Zeyan Liu, Bosi Peng, Yu-Han Joseph Tsai, Ao Zhang, Mingjie Xu, Wenjie Zang, XingXu Yan, Li Xing, Xiaoqing Pan, Xiangfeng Duan & Yu Huang. Nature Nanotechnology. Volume 20, pages 807–814. March 24, 2025. Pt catalyst protected by graphene nanopockets enables lifetimes of over 200,000 h for heavy-duty fuel cell applications | Nature Nanotechnology

Ketjenblack EC-600JD. Product Line Polymer additives. Nouryon. Ketjenblack EC-600JD Electroconductive carbon black

Scandium superhighway paves way for low-temperature hydrogen fuel cells. Science X staff. Tech Xplore. August 8, 2025. Scandium superhighway paves way for low-temperature hydrogen fuel cells

Mitigating proton trapping in cubic perovskite oxides via ScO6 octahedral networks. Kota Tsujikawa, Junji Hyodo, Susumu Fujii, Kazuki Takahashi, Yuto Tomita, Nai Shi, Yasukazu Murakami, Shusuke Kasamatsu & Yoshihiro Yamazaki. Nature Materials. August 8, 2025. Mitigating proton trapping in cubic perovskite oxides via ScO6 octahedral networks | Nature Materials

UCLA-Led Research Doubles DOE Fuel Cell Lifetime Target with New Catalyst Material. UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. August 14, 2024. UCLA-Led Research Doubles DOE Fuel Cell Lifetime Target with New Catalyst Material | UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering

USE OF SCANDIUM IN SOFCs. Suniway. SUNIWAY_Scandium_SOFC.pdf

Scandium Oxide: Key Material for Next-Generation Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs). Stanford Advanced Materials. Scandium Oxide: Key Material for Next-Generation Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) | Scandium               `

 

 

35MW Electrolyzer Delivered for Linde’s Hydroelectric-Powered Green H2 Project at Niagara Falls, New York

     Accelera, the zero-emissions business segment of Cummins Inc., developed a 35MW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer that is the largest operational system of its kind in the U.S. This system will produce green hydrogen at commercial scale for industrial gas giant Linde at their facility in Niagara Falls, New York. The system will be powered by hydroelectricity and split water into H2 and O2. The PEM electrolyzer is “modular, scalable, and enables future expansions and integration into increasingly complex industrial workflows.” The location is ideal, being near hydropower production and a major industrial gas facility.

     The electrolyzer system was built at Accelera’s Minnesota facility. Accelera has deployed more than 600 PEM electrolyzers globally. Larger systems include a 20 MW facility in Quebec, Canada, and a 25 MW system in Florida. The 35MW system at Niagara Falls will be Accelera’s largest system deployed globally. According to the press release:

“The successful delivery of this 35MW electrolyzer system is a significant milestone for Accelera and for the advancement of clean hydrogen technology in North America,” said Des McMenamin, General Manager – Electrolyzers for Accelera. “This project demonstrates our ability to deliver large-scale, reliable solutions that enable our customers to produce green hydrogen on a commercial scale.”

     Acellera delivers plug-and-play electrolyzer systems to make hydrogen that can be used for multiple applications, including replacing natural gas for grid balancing, as a feedstock for green ammonia that can be used to make fertilizers, H2 for refueling stations, large industries, e-fuels, and much more.  

 

 

   

References:

 

Accelera delivers its largest electrolyzer system to hydrogen facility in New York. Accelera by Cummins. September 3, 2025. Accelera delivers its largest electrolyzer system to hydrogen facility in New York | Accelera

Largest US-built 35 MW PEM electrolyzer deployed at hydro-powered plant in Niagara Falls. Georgina Jedikovska. Interesting Engineering. September 5, 2025. Largest US-built 35 MW PEM electrolyzer deployed at hydro-powered plant in Niagara Falls

 

Methanogenesis: Part 5: Methane Budgeting and Determining Source Contributions

     The multiple new discoveries about methanogenesis and its variability mean that methane budgeting and the determination of source contributions are more complex than previously thought. The main conclusion is that more methane is being naturally produced than previously thought, and this is reflected in previous studies that ruled out oil & gas systems as responsible for the increase in atmospheric methane. While oil & gas may not be responsible, several other anthropogenic activities contribute to the increase. These include increased amounts of landfill gas and agricultural methane sources, increased nutrient availability in coastal zones due to fertilizer runoff, spreading of coastal and possibly deep-sea methanogens via ocean currents. Below is a graph of global atmospheric methane increase since 1983.

     Last year, I wrote about research that confirmed that the increase in atmospheric methane was mainly biogenic rather than thermogenic, strongly suggesting that leaks from oil & gas systems were not driving the increase. The authors and I concluded that the main sources were landfills, cows, and wetlands, including rice paddies. The first two are anthropogenic, and while wetlands are mostly natural, they can be anthropogenic as well. However, more recent research suggests that other coastal and oceanic sources could be important factors as well, which need to be better quantified.   

     In the first parts of this multiple-part post, I explored several possible explanations or contributors to the increased atmospheric biogenic methane. These include a new understanding of coastal processes involving seaweed and seagrasses, coastal fertilization, a better understanding of the proliferation and mobility of deep-sea methanogens, growth and spread of methanogens via ocean currents, warmer oceans, glacial meltwater, and seafloor disturbance, and environmental fluxes of component availability for methanogenesis. There are also other sources to quantify, such as methane released from melting permafrost, tropical wetlands, and other anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic sources. We still don’t know what processes have contributed in what percentages to the increase in atmospheric biogenic methane. That will require further research and monitoring. We can measure global atmospheric methane much like we measure atmospheric CO2. Thus, we know by how much biogenic methane is increasing, but now we have to work backwards and determine the source attributions of each possible mechanism of increase.

     While the accelerated increase since around 2015 is concerning, I am unaware of any explanation for the lack of increase from about 1995 to about 2005. Knowing why there was no increase during that time period might shed more light on source attributions. According to the graph, there was also an acceleration in the 1980s comparable to the acceleration now. The reason for those changes is not explained either. We simply need to know more in order to make those determinations.

     The Global Carbon Project does global methane budgeting. However, with all this new information about methanogenesis, their numbers, as shown below, may be due for re-analysis.

 

  

References:

 

Global atmospheric methane concentrations. Our World in Data. Global atmospheric methane concentrations

Global Carbon Project: Briefing on key messages for Global Methane Budget 2024. Global CarboN Project. September 10, 2024. Key Highlights_CH4 Budget_2024

Methanogenesis: Part 1: Discovery of New Oxygen-Tolerant Methanogens May Partially Explain Recent Increase in Biogenic Atmospheric Methane: Coastal Methanogenesis is More Abundant Than Thought and Implications for Methane Budgeting. September 3, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Methanogenesis: Part 1: Discovery of New Oxygen-Tolerant Methanogens May Partially Explain Recent Increase in Biogenic Atmospheric Methane: Coastal Methanogenesis is More Abundant Than Thought and Implications for Methane Budgeting

Methanogenesis: Part 2: Deep-Sea Methanogens and Chemosynthesis: Quantifying Its Contribution. September 4, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Methanogenesis: Part 2: Deep-Sea Methanogens and Chemosynthesis: Quantifying Its Contribution

Methanogenesis: Part 3: Fingerprinting Methane by Isotopes Reveals Sources and CRISPR Gives Insights into Enzyme Mechanisms for Methanogenesis. September 4, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Methanogenesis: Part 3: Fingerprinting Methane by Isotopes Reveals Sources and CRISPR Gives Insights into Enzyme Mechanisms for Methanogenesis

Methanogenesis: Part 4: Growth and Spread of Methanogens Due to Fertilization, Ocean Currents, Warmer Oceans, Melting Glaciers, and Deep-Sea Mining. September 4, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Methanogenesis: Part 4: Growth and Spread of Methanogens Due to Fertilization, Ocean Currents, Warmer Oceans, Melting Glaciers, and Deep-Sea Mining

 

 

Methanogenesis: Part 4: Growth and Spread of Methanogens Due to Fertilization, Ocean Currents, Warmer Oceans, Melting Glaciers, and Deep-Sea Mining

     One issue that may be exacerbating the increase in atmospheric biogenic methane is the growth and spreading of methanogens around the oceans due to several factors. The first factor is fertilization.

 

Fertilization and Ocean Currents

     Where agricultural nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen are collecting along the coasts, there is more potential food for methanogens. These farm and animal wastes create the conditions for explosive growth of methanogens along the coast and in the deep ocean as well. Some coastal regions show methane production up to ten times above background levels due to the added nutrients. The coastal regions that receive the most waste also have access to more ocean currents than other coastal regions, leading to more distribution of methanogens via ocean currents. It is thought that since the nutrient additions are seasonal, so too is the growth and spread of coastal methanogens.   

 

Warmer Oceans

     Warmer oceans also extend the biological range of methanogens by thousands of miles. According to the article by Julie Majid in PetsnPals, suggests that this expanding habitat range is leading to higher totals of methanogens in the ocean, which means more biogenic methane is being released to the atmosphere.

“Areas that were once too cold to support their metabolism are now perfect breeding grounds, expanding their total habitat by an estimated 40 percent over the past decade. The organisms are moving into Arctic ocean regions, tropical shallow seas, and mid-depth waters that never harbored methanogen populations before.”

     She calls it “a biological invasion that feeds on climate change itself.”

 

Glacial Meltwater

     Glacial meltwater contains dormant methanogens, which are released into the sea as the ice melts. This reintroduces ancient microbial strains into modern ocean environments. This increases genetic diversity, which makes current populations more resilient and productive when they interbreed with existing colonies. Some of these once-frozen methanogens exhibit enhanced cold tolerance and more efficient metabolic pathways. This, in turn, helps them to spread to more places in the ocean.

 

Disturbance Via Deep-Sea Mining

     Disturbing the ocean floor during deep-sea mining can break open “sediment layers that contain concentrated methanogen populations, releasing them into the water column where they can spread more easily. These disturbances also expose the microbes to different chemical environments that can trigger increased methane production. Mining operations target the same deep-sea environments where the highest methanogen concentrations exist, creating perfect conditions for widespread microbial dispersal.”

     She also notes that the disturbance may mix different colonies together, which can also aid their proliferation as more robust hybrid populations.

 

Potential Implications

     The potential implications for increasing atmospheric methane could be huge and, by some measures, potentially catastrophic. However, we need a better understanding of oceanic methanogenesis in order to better understand the implications of the growth and spread of methanogens and how to mitigate them.

“Mathematical models incorporating the new methanogen data predict that these organisms alone could increase global atmospheric methane concentrations by 100 percent by 2045. The projections account for their expanding habitat range, increasing reproduction rates due to warming temperatures, and the compounding effects of their rapid global dispersal. These estimates assume current trends continue without major interventions to limit ocean warming or methanogen populations.”

“The timeline could accelerate further if these organisms continue adapting to new environments or if ocean warming happens faster than current projections suggest. Some research teams believe the doubling could occur as early as 2040 if multiple feedback loops reinforce each other simultaneously. This potential methane surge would fundamentally alter Earth’s climate trajectory, making current greenhouse gas reduction targets insufficient and requiring entirely new approaches to climate mitigation that account for biological methane sources.”

     Other research has recently shown that warmer atmospheric temperatures lead to warmer wetland temperatures, which can also increase atmospheric methane. The research showed increasing methane releases from satellite-measured methane hotspots such as the tropical wetlands of the Amazon and the Congo regions. Tropical wetlands are a leading candidate for increasing atmospheric methane. Thus, warmer wetlands can also lead to the growth and spread of methanogens in that environment.   

 

 

References:

 

New Data Says Earth’s Dangerous Warming Traced To A Hidden Methane Culprit. Julie Majid. Petsnpals. September 1, 2025. New Data Says Earth’s Dangerous Warming Traced To A Hidden Methane Culprit

Scientists may have solved the mystery behind a top climate threat. Shannon Osaka. The Washington Post. November 4, 2024. Scientists may have solved the mystery behind a top climate threat