The race to discover new materials

What will it take to get to a world where we have all the energy we need — without the emissions, smog and other climate impacts? The shift requires a rapid draw-down on carbon-based fuels and the use of energy storage technologies. And while lithium batteries have been instrumental in the transition, supply chain and sustainability issues are of increasing concern. We need to think beyond the battery. In this episode, we’re looking into how new materials might get us one step closer in the on-going transition to a clean energy future. From using AI to speed up discovery to developing the applications of a shape-shifting metal alloy, we explore the emerging technologies that will help us harness clean energy.

Featured in this episode:

• Molly Wood is the managing director at a venture capital firm called Launch. A former technology and business journalist, she specializes in funding climate solutions. 
• Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a professor of chemistry and computer science at the University of Toronto, works at the interface of AI, chemistry and material science. He is working to speed up the discovery of molecules and materials to address climate change through “self-driving laboratories.”
• Ibraheem Khan is the founder and CEO of Extract Energy. He’s developing a heat engine that captures low-grade waste heat using the properties of a smart metal alloy and his patented Multiple Memory Material technology. 

Further reading: 

• A sustainable future: How materials science can make the planet cleaner
• Alán Aspuru-Guzik is reimagining the discovery of materials
• Estimating the global waste heat potential
• Dear policymakers: to decarbonise, you need flow batteries
• The Renewable-Energy Revolution Will Need Renewable Storage

The Mission from MaRS initiative was created to help scale carbon reducing innovations by working to remove the barriers to adopting new technology. Mission from MaRS thanks its founding partners, HSBC, Trottier Family Foundation, RBC Tech for Nature and Thistledown Foundation. It has also received generous support from Peter Gilgan Foundation, BDC, EDC and Mitsubishi Corporation Americas. Learn more about the program at missionfrommars.ca.

Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.