Agora Energy’s Solution Will Turn CO2 & Electricity Into Industrial Feedstocks Cheaply
This is the third in a series of articles I’m writing about flow battery technology, with a couple of articles devoted to Agora Energy Technologies’ specific technology. The first article dealt with flow batteries in general, and why they are a strongly promising component for grid storage. The second dealt with Agora’s unique differentiators. This article is devoted to a compelling alternative use case for their technology, one that’s immediate and high value.
The past three years have been a deeper dive into industrial processes and chemical engineering for me, and the implications for global warming. The CleanTechnica report on Carbon Engineering was a major effort, as were the many articles on industrial processes for carbon sequestration. The assessment of cement manufacturing, with and without the nonsensical use of concentrating solar power was another.
This has led me to a deeper interest in the edge cases of climate solutions. My assessments and research over the past few years has led me to understand the major solution sets for energy, transportation, and biological carbon sequestration, but there’s still a lot of carbon and pollution emitted in industrial processes that needs to be addressed. As one example, there is the $44 billion global carbonates market.
Potassium carbonate is in a lot of things we use daily. It’s used in soaps, glass, and china dishes. It’s used as a drying agent in chemical processes. It’s in both Asian noodles and Dutch cocoa powder. Wine makers use it. It’s a water softener and a fire extinguisher. It’s used in welding and animal feed.
Sodium carbonate is equally widely used. It’s in glass, paper, rayon, soaps, and detergents. It’s used for water softening. It’s a food additive that controls acidity. As a weak, safe to handle base, it’s used in a lot of chemical processes. Over 40 million metric tons are produced each year, amounting to several kilograms for every person on Earth.
Between them, they represent a roughly $44 billion global annual market. And the current processes that make them are pretty nasty in a lot of ways.
Let’s take sodium carbonate as an example. About 75% of all the sodium carbonate used in the world is made by the Solvay Process. The US gets most of its sodium carbonate from a massive trona deposit in Wyoming.
Syracuse Solvay process works circa 1900 courtesy US Library of Congress
The Solvay Process was invented in 1861, and is still used everywhere today. It bubbles CO2 up through ammonia-based brine in a four-step chemical engineering process that produces and uses CO2 at various points in the process. And of course there’s the ammonia, which is highly toxic, with 15-minute exposure limits to levels of 35 ppm of gaseous ammonia per the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Ammonia is a manufactured substance in and of itself, using hydrogen created from fossil fuels today with 8-35 times the mass of CO2 as hydrogen. Prolonged exposure to small amounts of ammonia cause irreversible health effects. The ammonia is mostly recycled with only small amounts being lost, but eliminating it entirely would be beneficial.
The Solvay process actually captures some CO2 produced in one step to use in a later stage, but overall, the deployed process is a net emitter of 2.74 times the mass of CO2 as the mass of carbonates produced.
Solvay chemical process flow courtesy of UN IPCC
The source of heat in the first step interested me. That step in the process is the same as for cement, incidentally. It requires substantial heat, in the 600 to 1000 degree Celsius range to calcinate limestone to make quicklime and CO2. Some of the CO2 and all of the quicklime are used in later steps in the process, unlike cement making where all the CO2 is just emitted into the atmosphere.
As a side note, a Lafarge cement expert told me when I was exploring cement that they had no good process for capturing limestone kiln CO2 emissions, which clearly isn’t the case as it has been done as an industrial process for 160 years. Capturing flue CO2 isn’t hard, it’s just expensive, so it isn’t done unless there’s a very good economic reason.
Then there’s another temperature challenge, which is that the third step in the process is strongly exothermic, which means it gives off a lot of heat, just not usefully. One of the key challenges in the process is keeping the temperature low enough. That’s typically done with cooling water from ground sources, a challenged source in many parts of the world today, with thermal generation plants shutting down or running on diminished capacity as ground water heats up past the point where it works well with the designed equipment. The Solvay company shut down four of its 22 Sao Paulo, Brazil units due to the river they take water from drying up in 2014, a taste of the future for many heavy water consuming industrial plants located on water sources at risk from global warming.
The second instance of the application of heat in step 4 is also interesting. That requires another kiln with a temperature of about 300 degrees Celsius. Any time I see heat these days in industrial processes, I assume it’s coming from fossil fuels, and I was unsurprised to find that the preferred energy source for the Solvay Process was coke, a processed coal derivative.
That’s not all of course. The Solvay Process is much less polluting than the Leblanc Process it replaced, but inland sites end up with 50% more waste deposits of by-products than the sodium carbonates of value. Solvay, New York, which was renamed when the Solvay company built a plant there, has massive waste beds that have polluted the local area and contributed to the nearby Onondaga Lake being declared a Superfund Site.
Long wall trona mine image courtesy Government of Wyoming
I haven’t done the same assessment of the environmental impacts of the US trona mining and processing sodium carbonate stream, but at first glance it looks like a high CO2 emitter with a fair amount of use of toxic chemicals and a challenging waste stream as well.
Why is this digression interesting? Well, the Agora technology can create sodium carbonate in two steps without any heat and with barely any temperature management required.
Wait. What? It’s a battery, not a chemical plant, isn’t it?
Well, yes. The closed-loop model cycles the chemicals between their base form and their charged form and back. But the open-loop model, which changes in some of the details, produces sodium carbonate after the second cycle instead of turning it back into CO2, in a up to 35% by weight solution with water. And both act as batteries, taking in electricity in the charging stage and producing electricity in the discharge phase.
So the ammonia-based, high-heat, high-cooling, five-step process turns into a shorter process with much less harmful outcomes. It takes electricity when it’s cheap at night or other times, from renewables wherever possible of course, to ‘charge’ the battery. Then during the daytime, instead of reversing the process as in the open-flow approach, it sends it through Agora’s cells with a different chemistry and produces carbonates in solution and electricity. The entire daytime process from lights to pumps to drying the carbonate solution and the like can be run by a portion of the electricity that’s produced.
The output sodium carbonate is pure as well. It’s a pure compound in pure water. Heat the water to evaporate it off, and the purity should be well over the 98% purity typically guaranteed for food additives for the most expensive variants. There’s enough electricity in the battery to power the evaporation directly per my calculations with the CEO Dr Christina Gyenge, but there’s far more than enough to use heat pump technology with a COP of 4 to do that, or to pump it over a source of waste industrial heat elsewhere, and leave a lot of electricity left over for other uses in the industrial facility or to sell to the grid.
So, this technology can take a cheap feedstock we have too much of in the world, CO2, regardless of where it comes from and using renewable electricity produce very high quality industrial chemicals that are used globally in a market worth tens of billions of dollars.
Agora’s CO2-based redox flow battery technology is an industrial component from the future.
Full disclosure. I have a professional relationship with Agora as a strategic advisor and Board observer. I did an initial strategy session with Agora about their redox flow battery technology in late 2019 and was blown away by what they had in hand, and my formal role with the firm started at the beginning of 2021. I commit to being as objective and honest as always, but be aware of my affiliation.
Environment
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 disappoints with hallucinations, brake stabbing, and speeding
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14, its first major update in a year, disappoints as data points to a lower increase in miles between disengagements than expected.
The system also features new hallucinations, brake stabbing, and excessive speeding.
Earlier this month, Tesla began rolling out its Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14 software update to some customers.
The update has been highly anticipated for several reasons.
First off, it has been a year since Tesla released any significant FSD update to customers, as it focused on its internal robotaxi fleet in Austin. The update is believed to feature improvements developed through Tesla’s robotaxi fleet, which requires supervising like its consumer FSD.
Secondly, CEO Elon Musk has claimed that Tesla still plans for “Supervised Full Self-Driving” to become unsupervised by the end of the year in consumer vehicles. For that to happen, we needed to see a massive improvement from v13 to v14.
As I previously reported, I anticipated an improvement in miles between critical disengagements from ~400 miles in v13 to ~800 to 1,200 miles in v14. It would be a significant improvement, but still way short of what’s needed to make FSD unsupervised.
Tesla notoriously doesn’t release any data about its FSD program. Musk has literally told people to rely on anecdotal experiences posted on social media to gauge progress.
Fortunately, there’s a crowdsourced dataset that gives us some data to track progress with miles between critical disengagement. It’s far from perfect, but it is literally the best data available, and Musk himself has shared the dataset in the past – albeit while misrepresenting it.
In the last week, Tesla started pushing the FSD v14 update (now v14.1.4) to more owners – resulting in more crowdsourced data and anecdotal evidence.
With now over 4,000 miles of FSD v14 data, miles between critical disengagement sits about 732 miles – below the lower end of our expectations:
Tesla would need to be closer to 10,000 miles between critical disengagements to allow unsupervised operation, and even then, it would likely be in geo-fenced areas with speed limitations.
This is unlikely to happen by the end of the year, as Musk predicted, as FSD v14 appears to have some significant issues still.
First off, many FSD v14 drivers are reporting that the update is having problems with hallucinations where the car decides to stop on the side of the road seemingly randomly:
It does seem like FSD v14 sometimes misinterprets other vehicles’ turn signals as emergency vehicle lights and pulls over.
In some cases, FSD v14 has been known to completely disable FSD features inside vehicles:
Many FSD v14 drivers have also reported an increase in “brake stabbing”, where the vehicle seems to hesitate and frantically applies the brakes and releases them – resulting in a stabbing motion.
As previously reported, Tesla also brought back its ‘Mad Max’ mode in FSD v14, which allows for driving exceedingly over the speed limit.
Electrek’s Take
Now, I don’t want to hear anything about my use of anecdotal evidence and crowdsourced data. That’s literally the best data available for FSD.
Unlike virtually all other companies developing self-driving technology, Tesla refuses to release any.
If it were to release some data, I’d be happy to use it.
One thing is clear from v14 so far: unsupervised FSD in consumer vehicles is not happening in any meaningful way this year.
I expect significant improvements in upcoming FSD v14 point updates. Maybe enough to get it to my previous expectations of ~800 to 1,200 miles between disengagements, but that’s about it.
Finally, while I generally don’t count on NHTSA to enforce any rule in any significant way when it comes to Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” effort, I think they might actually do something about “Mad Max.”
This video on Instagram has 4.5 million views, and it shows extremely dangerous driving behavior at up to 90 mph (145 km/h)
I think the authorities will have to intervene here, because it makes no sense for an unproven autonomous driving system to be able to operate under those parameters.
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![The Toyota Corolla EV is bringing a sharp new look, but that's just the start [Images]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/10/Toyota-Corolla-EV-5.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Toyota’s best-selling car is finally going electric. The Corolla EV looks more like a Porsche or BMW than the Toyota vehicles on the road today, but that’s just the start.
The Toyota Corolla is evolving into a rad-looking EV
After revealing the Corolla Concept for the first time at the Japan Mobility Show on Tuesday, Toyota’s CEO, Koji Sato, said the compact car has always been “a car for everyone.”
Since it hit the market over 50 years ago, Toyota has sold well over 50 million Corollas. The Corolla even surpassed the VW Beetle in the 90s to become the world’s best-selling vehicle. Like the Prius, Toyota’s compact car lured in buyers with an affordable price and a reputation as a reliable daily driver.
Although it’s still a top-seller, the Corolla has lost some of its charm as more advanced, stylish, and efficient electric cars hit the market.
Toyota looks to change that with a drastic overhaul that takes the Corolla to the next level. To stay relevant, Sato asked the crowd at the event, “How should the Corolla evolve?”
We all want to drive a car that looks cool, but there’s much more to it nowadays. Buyers are increasingly seeking more efficient vehicles with the latest software, connectivity technology, and other features.
“Whether it’s a battery EV, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, or internal combustion engine vehicle―whatever the power source―let’s make good-looking cars that everyone will want to drive!” Toyota’s CEO said, adding the car is “packed with inventions aimed at making that a reality.”
Although Toyota didn’t confirm the concept was headed for production, the next-gen Corolla is expected to arrive with a similar style.
The concept still features Toyota’s newest design elements, like the “hammerhead” front end, but with a bit more of a futuristic feel.
You can barely tell the concept is a Corolla, aside from the massive COROLLA badging on the rear. Toyota didn’t reveal any powertrain details, but the charge port and closed-off grille suggest it’s an EV.
The next-gen Toyota Corolla is expected to be offered as an EV, a plug-in hybrid, a hybrid, and, likely, still an ICE variant.
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Three months after Uber, Lucid Motors, and Nuro announced a partnership that would enable Gravity SUV robotaxis, the rideshare network has shared where the public will first be able to hail one. Spoiler alert, it’s easy to guess if you give it half a thought.
As we reported in July, Uber Technologies committed to a $300 million investment in Lucid Group (parent company of American EV automaker Lucid Motors), to deploy at least 20,000 Lucid vehicles as robotaxis over the next six years.
Those Lucid vehicles, which will consist of the automaker’s flagship Gravity SUV to begin, will hit public roads equipped with a Level 4 autonomous system called Nuro Driver. Nuro, the third partner in this equation, is a robotics company specializing in zero-occupant delivery vehicles, which garnered an existing partnership with Uber Eats as well as a “hefty” (yet undisclosed) investment from Uber Technologies.
Last month, Lucid delivered its first Gravity SUV to Nuro to begin the retrofitting process of the Nuro Driver system to support Uber’s hopes for a luxe robotaxi fleet. While the partners continue to work toward building an exciting new fleet of Lucid Gravity Robotaxis, Uber has shared the location where they will first go into service… Casper, Wyoming.
Just kidding!
It’s the San Francisco Bay Area, of course.
Uber to deploy Lucid Gravity EVs in Bay Area in 2026
Today’s update from Uber expands upon the ongoing partnership with Lucid Group and Nuro. According to the companies, the San Francisco Bay Area will be the first market where riders will see this next-generation autonomous robotaxi program in operation. That milestone is expected sometime in 2026.
Uber has shared that it has been updating policymakers and regulators at every level on the progress of its exclusive Lucid Robotaxis and continues to meet the operational requirements. Notably, Uber has shared that on-road development with the Lucid Gravity robotaxi engineering fleet is already underway in the Bay Area.
Furthermore, Nuro and Lucid intend to be operating over 100 Gravity robotaxis as part of the test fleet “in the coming months.” Lucid interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, spoke about today’s announcement:
Lucid has always celebrated its California roots, and we’re thrilled to make the San Francisco Bay Area the first market for our new robotaxi on the Uber platform, powered by the Nuro Driver. Beginning next year, riders will experience a level of convenience, safety, and comfort unlike anything else on the road. We can’t wait to bring this service to life and expand it to communities across the country.
To build this fleet of Uber-exclusive robotaxis, the required hardware will be integrated into Lucid Gravity SUVS while they are still on Lucid’s assembly line in Arizona. Those builds will then be integrated with Nuro’s proprietary software when Uber officially commissions them.
All eyes on 2026 as we now know that residents around the Bay Area will be able to hail a driverless Lucid Gravity through the Uber platform. I’m very much looking forward to seeing this fleet in action.
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