Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Iron-Air Man - Ep144: Mateo Jaramillo

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Nov 22, 2023

Mateo Jaramillo, Co-Founder and CEO of Form Energy, discusses their low-cost multi-day energy storage solutions based on an iron air battery chemistry. They explore the role of batteries in the energy grid, the appearance and composition of iron-air batteries, and the challenges of scaling up manufacturing and entering the European market. They also discuss the difficulties of hydrogen storage and the benefits of electrochemical cells. Overall, an insightful conversation on the future of renewable energy.

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Episode notes

The Role of Batteries in the Energy Grid

15:14 • 19min

Iron-Air Batteries: Appearance and Composition

34:03 • 6min

Scale and Density of a 10 Megawatt Deployment

39:46 • 18min

Scaling up manufacturing and expanding into the European market

58:03 • 3min

Challenges of Hydrogen Storage and the Benefits of Electrochemical Cells

01:01:15 • 2min

Concluding the Conversation and Sponsors Acknowledgment

01:03:02 • 2min

Mateo Jaramillo is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Form Energy, a company developing, commercializing, and manufacturing breakthrough low-cost, multi-day energy storage solutions that will enable the electric system to be 100% renewably powered. Mr. Jaramillo was formerly Vice President of Products and Programs for Tesla’s stationary storage business, an effort he started. In that role, he was responsible for Tesla Energy’s product line and business model definition, as well as global policy and business development. Mr. Jaramillo joined Tesla in 2009 as the Director of Powertrain Business Development, serving as commercial lead and primary negotiator on over $100M in new development and $500M in production contracts signed for electric powertrain sales. Prior to Tesla, Mr. Jaramillo was Chief Operating Officer and part of the founding team at Gaia Power Technologies, a pioneering distributed energy storage firm. Mr. Jaramillo serves on the Board of Directors for the American Clean Power Association, the leading federation of renewable energy companies expediting the advancement of clean energy as the dominant power source in America.

He earned his AB in economics from Harvard and a Masters in Theology from Yale Divinity School.

Links

Forbes write-up of Form: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/08/09/iron-and-rust-could-be-the-secret-to-storing-clean-power-for-days/

PBS write-up of Form: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/iron-air-battery-renewable-grid/

Balkan Green Energy News’ critical analysis of iron-oxide battery technology: https://balkangreenenergynews.com/iron-air-batteries-are-10-times-as-cheap-as-lithium-and-will-be-produced-from-2024/

Assessment of SDES and LDES and current technologies: https://www.globalxetfs.com/short-and-long-duration-energy-storage-essential-to-the-clean-energy-transition/

Related Episodes

Episode 122 with Sir Chris-Llewellyn-Smith: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep122-sir-chris-llewellyn-smith-solving-for-storage/