BioZen Batteries - Podcast Details

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Parlons BusinessNO RAGE GROUP : DYNAMISER L'ÉCONOMIE DE MAYOTTEDécouvrez NO RAGE GROUP, un collectif d’entreprises engagées pour booster le développement économique et social de Mayotte ! Fondé par Ben Youssouf Bacar et Christophe Guilbault, ce groupe rassemble diverses entreprises, de la rénovation (May Renov) à la menuiserie aluminium (Metal Plus), en passant par la restauration locale (Mama Soiphi) et les cosmétiques (Biozen Beauty). Ensemble, ils s’engagent pour faire rayonner Mayotte et offrir des services de conseil en communication afin d’accroître la visibilité des acteurs locaux. Malgré les défis...2025-05-1911 min

Beyond Lithium30 | Doug Wilson — Sr. Fire Plans Examiner, Scottsdale AZ Fire Department🚒🧯 What’s the best strategy to prevent future battery fires? What type of energy storage system (ESS) does the fire department think is best? How do we build safe energy storage systems? For answers, we turn to Doug Wilson—Senior Fire Plans Examiner for Scottsdale, AZ Fire Department—in conversation with BioZen Batteries’ CEO Nate Kirchhofer.You’ll hear about Doug’s 30+ year background in both public and private Fire Protection as a registered Fire Protection Engineer, and some insights about the unique career path that that role entails, as well as some of the handful of universities that o...2025-04-1719 min

Beyond Lithium29 | Constantin Eis & Giovanni Damato — CEO & US President, CMBlu Energy🐳 Why doesn’t Nature store energy using metal? And what does it use? And how many kWh of energy per liter is stored in a Blue Whale?! For answers, we turn to the dynamic duo of Constantin Eis (CEO, CMBlu Energy AG—the mothership) & Giovanni Damato (President, CMBlu Energy, Inc.—the CA, US manufacturing subsidiary) who sit down (in person!) with BioZen’s CEO Nate Kirchhofer at RE+ in Anaheim, CA—the most comprehensive clean energy industry event in North America. This discussion covers the “secret sauce” working mechanism of CMBlu’s flagship Organic SolidFlow technology, combining elements of both fl...2025-01-0925 min

Beyond Lithium28 | Arvin Ganesen — CEO, Fourth Power🧗‍♂️ What is Fourth Power’s Guinness World record? Can we make renewables just as dispatchable as fossil fuels? And how is a battery like a carabiner?! For answers, tune into this episode where Arvin Ganesan, CEO of Fourth Power, sits down to discuss the company's groundbreaking thermal battery technology and its role in the future of renewable energy with host Nate Kirchhofer, CEO of BioZen Batteries. Fourth Power, spun out from MIT and Georgia Tech, has developed a system that uses liquid tin heated to over 2400°C to store energy and discharge for 5-500 hours. Arvin explains that this sc...2024-10-0824 min

Beyond Lithium27 | Ben Kaun — Chief Commercial Officer, Inlyte Energy🔋 What’s a 50 year old battery technology, made from abundant elements, with no risk of thermal runaway and no cycling degradation? Why was it originally targeted for EVs but now more for grid storage? What unique advantages does this decades-old technology bring to the table in today’s market? What do the utilities think? In this latest episode, our guest Ben Kaun, Chief Commercial Officer at Inlyte Energy, delves into these questions —and a lot more—with host Nate Kirchhofer, CEO of BioZen Batteries. Ben has a rich background in energy storage, including stints at Tesla Motors and the Ele...2024-08-0940 min

Beyond Lithium26 | Dr. Daniel Howard (Redux) — CEO, Quantum Energy, Inc.📊 What is impact, and how is it quantified? Why are 87% of clean energy projects severely delayed or failing? If current electricity consumption is 4000 TWh/year, what will it be in 2050 (hint: a lot more)? What is the biggest challenge in decarbonizing that increased demand? And what is BioZen's possible impact? For answers, we're bringing back our guest from Episode 4, Dr. Daniel Howard, CEO and cofounder of Quantum Energy Inc, to join BioZen Batteries' CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Daniel, and Quantum, is a big advocate for standardizing the way that impact is quantified through industry-standard lifecycle assessments (LCA). Ultimately, thi...2024-06-2818 min

Beyond Lithium25 | Mike Berger — Director of Product Engineering, Stryten Energy🚀 “It’s not rocket science,” someone once told Mike Berger, Stryten Energy’s Director of Product Engineering. "Yes," he agreed. “It’s probably even a little more complicated than rocket science because really it takes chemistry, electricity, materials, and electrochemistry.” Listen to this episode to understand what he’s talking about in discussion with BioZen’s CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Stryten Energy is a US manufacturer of high-quality lead (Pb) batteries, lithium (Li) batteries, and vanadium (V) redox flow batteries (RFBs)—as well as chargers and performance management software. Their variety of Industrial Pb battery production plants are concentrated in the US...2024-04-2125 min

Beyond Lithium24 | Kieran Claffey — Senior Research Engineer, Southern Company🏭 For the electric utilities, what is the most important metric for energy storage technology? What is the rule of 17%? What is dunkelflaute?! For answers, we turn to Kieran Claffey of Southern Company in discussion with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. To add some weight to Kieran's opinion, consider that as of 2021, Southern Company is the second largest utility company in the US, serving 9 million gas and electric customers in 6 states and delivering electricity to 120,000 square miles of territory. The Department of Energy targets a $0.05/kWh levelized cost of storage (LCOS) as a key performance parameter for energy storage technology. Kieran emp...2024-03-2730 min

Beyond Lithium23 | Cullen Quine — Postdoctoral Researcher at NREL & Co-founder of Activated Energy🐝 What is >100X more energy dense (33 kWh/kg) than Li-ion batteries (0.3kW/kg), and why is it so hard to store it at room temperature? What is a naturally-occurring gas that can be uniquely compressed into a non-toxic, non-flammable liquid at room temperature? And, how is beekeeping like energy storage cleantech?! To answer these questions, we're joined by Cullen Quine. He provides insights on his team's work, both as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and as Co-Founder of Activated Energy (unaffiliated with NREL), in conversation with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. At NREL, Cul...2024-03-0521 min

Beyond Lithium22 | Ben Bollinger — VP of Strategic Initiatives, Malta, Inc.🌡 What's the difference between a heat pump and a heat engine? What is synchronous inertia? What are the four horses pulling the chariot of a startup company? Why does a technology need its own sandbox? For answers, we're joined by Ben Bollinger, a career early-stage tech startup pro, PhD scientist, and currently VP of Strategic Initiatives at Malta Inc.—where they're working on molten salt thermal energy storage for grid-scale synchronous long duration energy storage (LDES). See Ben's slides here. Ben tells BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer that Malta's mission is "to enable the broader deployment of intermittent renewa...2024-02-0934 min

Beyond Lithium21 | Matt Raiford & Alyssa McQuilling — Sr. Technical Manager & Research and Innovation Manager, Consortium for Battery Innovation🚗 What is the most recycled product in the world, with 99.7% being collected into the recycling stream? Where does it get used beyond the starter / lighting / ignition functions in your car? Why does it have such a bad rap, and why should you in fact be excited about it? To answer these questions, we bring in Matt Raiford and Alyssa McQuilling from the Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) to talk with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. CBI is a global research organization, with over 130 member organizations, dedicated to improving lead battery performance across various applications. The consortium is committed to...2024-01-1731 min

Beyond Lithium20 | Brendan Serapiglia & Jason Feldmar — Partners, Gates & Cooper LLP💡 Can you trademark a sound? Why can you only patent "non-obvious" inventions? Who decides what is non-obvious? What is Enablement and how does the Supreme Court's ruling on it affect cleantech?! For answers to these questions and lots more, today's episode features Brendan Serapiglia, PhD and Jason Feldmar—partners and intellectual property (IP) attorneys at Gates & Cooper LLP—in discussion with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Brendan's technical background is in Materials Physics and he focuses on high-tech and university clients, whereas Jason's technical background is in Computer Science with a focus on software inventions as well as Gates & Cooper's Tradema...2024-01-0535 min

Beyond Lithium19 | Matt Harper — Co-founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Invinity Energy Systems♾ That's right: Invinity, with a V for vanadium. How many square meters does it take to set up 1 MWh of vanadium flow batteries? For the answer, we turn to Matt Harper, CCO and Co-founder at Invinity, in discussion with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Invinity Energy Systems was formed from the merger of RedT and Avalon in 2020 and focuses on vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) for large-scale, long duration energy storage (LDES) solutions. VRFBs directly complement renewable energy projects, with superiority over lithium-ion batteries in longevity, cycle life, and operational flexibility. According to Matt, Invinity makes VR...2023-12-1429 min

Beyond Lithium18 | Matt Millard — Founder & CEO, CapyBara Energy🐻 The capybara is nature's ultimate collaborator, existing peacefully in diverse global ecosystems. That harmonious disposition is exactly what CapyBara Energy seeks to bring to the energy storage market with their aqueous supercapacitor technology. How? CapyBara's Founder & CEO Matt Millard tells BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer that it's possible because their technology is uniquely "Sustainable, Affordable, and Scalable." And let's be honest, all energy storage should strive for those three characteristics! At $20/kWh capex, CapyBara "supercaps" might be hard to beat on cost, not to mention that their raw materials are carbon waste, they won't catch fire, they have an...2023-12-0121 min

Beyond Lithium17 | Mark Wanamaker — Business Development Manager, Lockheed Martin Energy Storage0️⃣ What's your favorite zero-emission load following dispatchable resource to enable green baseload? What even *is* green baseload?! For this episode, Mark Wanamaker of Lockheed Martin Energy Storage joins BioZen Batteries' CEO Nate Kirchhofer to discuss one possible answer to that question: Lockheed Martin's GridStar™ Flow Batteries! This technology was acquired from MIT-spinout Sun Catalytics in 2014 and has been under development since then, and the aqueous electrolytes can't catch fire, don't degrade based on use case or state of charge (SOC), and don't need thermal management, all serving to lower the cost. Lockheed Martin was also recently awarded a 1 MW...2023-11-3013 min

Beyond Lithium16 | Leah Kuritzky, PhD — Head of PV Operations, Antora Energy🔥 Is it just a glorified toaster? Not quite: At more than 1500 °C (2700 °F), the carbon blocks inside Antora's unique thermal batteries are resistively heated (like toaster coils heat bread), storing energy glowing-hot at >1/4 the temperature of the Sun's surface. Our guest for this episode, Leah Kuritzky (Antora's Head of PV Operations) tells BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer that the stored thermal energy can be used on demand, directly as heat for industrial processes (think anything from boiling water to melting steel), or converted back to electricity using thermophotovoltaic cells (which is Leah's expertise at Antora), all without burning fossil fuels. 2023-11-0218 min

Beyond Lithium15 | Mike Marshak — Founder & CEO, Otoro Energy🍣🐟 "Operating the electric grid without energy storage is sort of like operating a sushi restaurant without a refrigerator." Tune into this episode to find out what Otoro Energy's CEO Michael Marshak means by that in conversation with BioZen Batteries CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Then, stick around to learn about Otoro's key innovation in higher-voltage, non-flammable, highly-stable, aqueous-soluble metal-chelate flow battery electrolyte liquids that just might be so non-toxic you could drink them (not that you should). For flow batteries, Mike points out, we need to think about the total power capacity, the duration that you can operate at that power, and al...2023-10-2033 min

Beyond Lithium14 | Onas Bolton — Founder & CEO, Octet Scientific⚡ Which metal was used as far back as 1799 when Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, the original battery? Hint: It's still in use today in single-use alkaline batteries, and it's gaining adoption for safe, high-cycle, high-efficiency, high-energy-density grid scale batteries too. For this episode, Onas Bolton joins BioZen CEO Nate Kirchhofer to dive into how Octet Scientific is making these metal batteries better: modifying their aqueous electrolyte composition with Octet's organic (carbon-based) Octolyte™ chemical additives that improve cycle life, shelf stability, and charge transfer efficiency—among lots of other advantages—at just ~1% concentrations. Stick around to hear some trends from Oct...2023-09-1427 min

Beyond Lithium13 | Mahesh Morjaria — Executive VP of Plant Operational Technology, Terabase Energy💯 Pop Quiz! Define the following: EPCs, SCADA systems, upregulation, downregulation, frequency regulation, spinning reserves, timeshifting, and dispatchable assets. Didn't get them all right? That's okay! We've brought in Mahesh Morjaria of Terabase Energy to get you up to speed in conversation with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. We're going to dive into just what an engineering marvel the grid is, and what it means to install something "on the grid." Over the last 25 years, 1.1 Terawatts of solar photovoltaic power generation has been grid integrated, and society needs to 10X that (at least!) over the next 25. You'll notice that a baseload of...2023-08-2428 min

Beyond Lithium12 | Ilja Pawel — Expert Consultant, Renewable Energy & Storage Technology♻️ What does "sustainability" mean to you? How do you put a price on the safety of a battery? If we want society to adopt renewable energy, why is there so much NIMBYism about it? To answer these questions, and more, clean energy expert Ilja Pawel calls in from Austria to join BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Ilja is an independent consultant and star communicator on renewable energy generation and storage technologies, and you can find his writings and talks both online (e.g. LinkedIn) as well as at conferences (such as Intersolar). The discussion covers the "hard" and "soft" costs of e...2023-08-0228 min

Beyond Lithium11 | Doris Hafenbradl — CTO & Managing Director, Electrochaea🦠 You've heard of two major domains of life: Bacteria (think E. coli) and Eukaryotes (like yeast, plants, animals, etc). Do you know what the third major domain is? (Hint: it's hidden in the company name, Electrochaea.) Do you know how it stores energy? Tune into this episode where Doris Hafenbradl joins BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer to discuss these ancient microorganisms—the biocatalysts at the heart of Electrochaea's technology. Their process uses renewably-sourced hydrogen gas (H2) from electrolysis to convert waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into stored energy in the C-H chemical bonds of bio-generated methane molecules (CH4). The discussion ranges acros...2023-06-3024 min

Built for EarthInvaluable Wisdom | Highlights from B4E Season 1Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Season 1 of Built for Earth. Whether you’re a student, investor, supporter, founder, or simply an earth-lover, we hope Built for Earth has been, and will continue to be, a worthwhile listening and learning experience. This episode is an opportunity to hear from all 12 of our innovators from Season 1 in a crash-course of business, climate, and life wisdom. Enjoy and see you in July for Season 2! Check out our episodes: *The number in parentheses following each episode reflects the order in which the speaker is fe...2023-06-1302 min

Beyond Lithium10 | Dr. Tyler Farnsworth & Tom Borak — Head of Technical and Product Development & Head of Commercial Development, MERGE Chemistry🧪 What are the critical chemicals that need to be scaled for energy storage right now? In 5 years, what battery chemistry is going to be winning in the marketplace? We're changing the pace with two guests to answer these questions: Dr. Tyler Farnsworth and Tom Borak, who join BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer and bring their perspective from MERGE Chemistry—the custom/specialty chemical manufacturing division of Inorganic Ventures (IV Labs)—that can scale production of a wide array of active and additive materials for many different energy storage technologies. Their chemistry-agnostic view yields a unique perspective on the supply chain, 2022 Inflati...2023-05-1824 min

Beyond Lithium9 | Michael Peither — Cofounder & CTO, VoltStorage🤺 How competitive is the energy storage market? On this episode, Cofounder & CTO of VoltStorage Michael Peither joins, as always, BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer to discuss this, the size of the need (in TWh), and perspectives on battery development cycles. VoltStorage is a leading manufacturer of vanadium redox flow batteries (V-RFBs) for agriculture and industrial applications requiring "Commercial" batteries (8-12+ hour discharge), and they have also established in-house pilot research in iron redox flow batteries (Fe-RFBs) for so-called "Long Duration" batteries (12-48+ hours discharge) that are critical for integrating renewable wind & solar into grid baseload capacity. The discussion further differentiates Vol...2023-05-0325 min

Beyond Lithium8 | James Werbe — Founder & CEO, Wayside Energy💦 Battery immersion cooling! What does that mean? Today's episode brings James Werbe of Wayside Energy for a conversation with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. As Wayside puts it, they're "creating a future to look forward to" starting with their novel thermal control approach for sodium ion (Na-ion) cells and how it helps with safety, reliability, sustainability, and scaling. We dive into just what immersion cooling entails, social NIMBYism vs. excitement for renewable energy, and making energy storage "smarter" through IoT interconnection protocols. Plus, we discuss how to think about engineering and community as tools for good, and how policy such as...2023-04-0422 min

Built for EarthBatteries that Mimic Plants | Nate Kirchhofer - Founder & CEO of Biozen Batteries*This is a re-published episode of an initial posting from 3/1/23 that was accidentally archived.* Nate Kirchhofer, an experienced physical electrochemist, co-founded Biozen Batteries in 2019 where he is developing an organic electrolyte fluid for batteries intended to mimic the energy storage process of plants. Prior to starting Biozen, he received his PhD from UC Santa Barbara and was a part of two acquired start-ups. Now, the company is in the process of commercializing their technology to create bio-inspired grid-level energy storage. In this episode we cover... What it means to mimic the energy storage process...2023-03-2935 min

Beyond Lithium7 | Mark Higgins — CCO & President North America, Redflow💤 Have you ever heard of "hibernation mode" for a battery? For this episode, BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer is joined by Mark Higgins of Redflow (ASX:RFX), a global company founded in Australia in 2005 (IPO 2010) that manufatures Zinc Bromine (Zn-Br) flow batteries. Tune in to learn from Mark just what Redflow's unique battery hibernation entails—not to mention their Zn-Br batteries' advantages in safety, depth of discharge, round trip efficiency, wide operational temperature range, and more. We dive further into Zn-Br use cases, Redflow's cumulative delivery of 3.2 GWh energy to customers through hundreds of systems installed across 10 countries and 5 continents, and f...2023-03-2829 min

Beyond Lithium6 | Kristina Jansen — Project Development Manager, RAI Energy☀️ For this episode, Kristina "Kristy" Jansen joins the show with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. Kristy brings two decades of experiece to cleantech, having been in solar photovoltaic development in the early 2000's, followed by a stint in advocacy on the non-profit side, and recently returning to renewable energy with RAI Energy (pronounced "Ray") becasue there is so much work to be done. We discuss her unique childhood and how that shapes her view of renewable energy, what RAI actually does, some of the insights in energy storage technology maturity, supply chain considerations at the 100 MW / $100MM project scale, and some...2023-03-1735 min

Clean Power HourOrganic Flow Batteries with Nate Kirchhofer, CEO of BioZen Batteries EP 133Welcome to the Clean Power Hour! On today’s show, we are joined by Nate Kirchhofer, CEO of BioZen Batteries a company that makes Bio-inspired batteries for a green energy grid. Nate Kirchhofer completed his PhD in 2016 the Materials Department at UC Santa Barbara with a focus in Physical Electrochemistry, tailoring biologically-inspired electronic reactions towards sustainable energy conversion technologies. Prior to that, he studied Physics and Mathematics at the University of Colorado (2008) and worked at the biofuels startup OPXBIO. Nate then joined Oxford Instruments Asylum Research to develop, produce, and sell advanced nano-electrochemical scanning probe microscopy techniques. Now...2023-03-1438 min

Beyond Lithium5 | Tim Montague — President, Clean Power Consulting🎙️ Cleantech expert and Clean Power Hour podcast guru Tim Montague joins (as always) BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer. The discussion ranges from the broad view of meta-trends in the cleantech space down to some actionable items for cleantech founders. Beyond the obvious "raise more money and grow," what are other features that up-and-coming clean energy storage technologies need to promote adoption? What alternative technologies will take a leading role in the next 5-10 years? What can clean energy leaders do to better communicate their companies' value propositions? Tune in to hear answers to these questions, and even the storage technology that...2023-03-0332 min

Beyond Lithium4 | Dr. Daniel Howard — CEO, Quantum Energy, Inc.🧮 If US ratepayers spend an extra $25B/year towards buildout of 90% renewable generation in 2035, can you guess how many $Billions are saved in human and environmental health costs? (Hint: it's more than 10X the cost.) For this episode, Dr. Daniel Howard, co-founder and CEO of Quantum Energy Inc, joins BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer to discuss business and personal tradeoffs related to decarbonization of the grid (i.e. reducing carbon emissions while serving electricity demand), costs of the 90%-renewable-in-2035 vs. business-as-usual policy pathways, and some of the system level benefits of different types of energy storage. Daniel even flips the scr...2022-12-0931 min

Beyond Lithium3 | Russ Weed — President, CleanTech Strategies [2 of 2]🏭 Russ and Nate continue the discussion, getting Russ' input the ongoing challenges in energy storage technology and deployment, the maturity of different scales and durations of energy storage technologies, and insights into the opportunities and surprises in bringing energy storage technology to market. Stick around for a forcast of what the energy storage mix will look like in 2035. Recorded 23 August 2022. [BioZen Batteries produces this show as part of the Clean Power Media Group at cleanpower.media. If you would like to interact more, please send us an email at ⁠hello@biozenbatteries.com⁠, write a comment, like, f...2022-09-3029 min

Beyond Lithium2 | Russ Weed — President, CleanTech Strategies [1 of 2]💵 Wait, how many billions of dollars? Russ—who hails from Seattle and brings a decade of experience in the energy storage industry, including some flow batteries—sits down with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer to discuss the implications of the recent US Inflation Reduction Act (or IRA) on energy storage development. Recorded 23 August 2022. [BioZen Batteries produces this show as part of the Clean Power Media Group at cleanpower.media. If you would like to interact more, please send us an email at ⁠hello@biozenbatteries.com⁠, write a comment, like, follow, share, or even leave us a voice messag...2022-09-2415 min

Beyond Lithium1 | Craig Lewis — Executive Director, Clean Coalition⚡ What's at the end of the transmission line? Craig sits down with BioZen's CEO Nate Kirchhofer to discuss community grid energy storage, and he shares more about the impetus behind his formation of the Clean Coalition, a little bit about how the grid works, why lithium-ion batteries are the "only" option right now, and his vision for what a fully renewable energy future will require from energy storage—starting with the 120 MWh battery project on deck right here in the Goleta Load Pocket. Recorded 17 May 2022. [BioZen Batteries produces this show as part of the Clean Powe...2022-07-2120 min

Homeopathy for MommiesElectro Magnetic Frequency (EMF): What You Need to Know and How Homeopathy Can HelpElectro Magnetic Frequency is becoming a huge concern in our world today. Everywhere you turn, you are exposed to EMF by Wifi devices, cell phones, computers, cell phone towers, and more. In this episode, Sue Meyer ND CCH talks about the recent studies about Electro Magnetic Frequency exposure and some ways that you can reduce your exposure through several natural methods and also a few remedies to take for symptoms of EMF exposure. Links that Sue mentioned in this podcast: Special Order Remedies Link to order remedies BioZen – Single pack or Pack of Thre...2018-11-1238 min

Homeopathy for MommiesHomeopathy for X-Ray Exposure (and Exposure to Radiation)In this episode of Homeopathy for Mommies, Sue Meyer ND CCH shares about the homeopathic remedy X-Ray. The remedy X-Ray was proven back in the 1800’s and is very good to use when exposed to lower forms of radiation. Some symptoms from the homeopathic proving included: Lesions Disorganized blood diseases loss of physical and mental vitality lukemia chronic fatigue sadness weak memory desire to kill before and during menses ear pain with buzzing and feeling of fullness, intermittent noises like steam whistle ringing of the head sleep issues kidney colic unexplained nausea and more How Sue...2018-06-1635 min