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new lithium mining technology has
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emerged bringing mining times down from
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18 months to just a few days and sending
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Purity skyrocketing from 30 to 90
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percent how does this new method work
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how expensive is it and most importantly
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when are we going to see it in the field
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let's find out
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first of all what is nanotechnology
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nanotechnology is any technology that is
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designed to work at sizes smaller than
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100 nanometers and greater than one
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nanometer
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this technology is currently being used
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by a startup energyx to revolutionize
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lithium mining lithium as you probably
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know is one of the most important parts
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of Lithium-ion batteries it's in the
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name so you can guess just how essential
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it is
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with the increase in the demand for
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lithium there has been a growing need
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for better and cheaper mining methods
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lithium prices and demand have shot up
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as EV companies speed up manufacturing
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and Mobile sales go up
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according to statista the demand for
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lithium back in 2019 was around 263
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000 metric tons and by current
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projections this number is going to
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surpass 2 million by 2030. to make
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things even more alarming that's double
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what the projections are for 2025 a 100
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increase in just five years this means
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that not only do we have to speed up the
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process but we must also make it much
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more scalable currently lithium is mined
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from Salt Flats these flats are spread
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over hundreds if not thousands of
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hectares and need to be completely dried
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up to extract the lithium from within
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the salt the entire process takes
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roughly 18 months and is incredibly
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expensive and inefficient with just 30
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recovery to cut a long story short it's
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impossible to rely on this method if
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you're looking to fulfill lithium
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demands in the coming years
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energyx has an idea they plan to use
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metal organic Frameworks or mofs
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invented in the 1990s mofs are
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microscopic Arrangements of metal atoms
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usually aluminum and zirconium that can
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be used to filter lithium and other
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metals from a solution
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as of right now there are over 90 000
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types of mofs with each having its own
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distinct uses and functions the type of
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mof that energyx plans to use is based
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on Research conducted at the University
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of Texas the Monash University and csiro
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the Commonwealth scientific and
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Industrial research organization Dr
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Huang Ting Wang's mof research at Monash
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University and Dr beanie Freeman's
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membrane research at the University of
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Texas were combined to come up with the
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tech the technology Works in a couple of
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ways utilizing multiple Pathways to
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purify lithium the first and by far the
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easiest ways through the size sieving
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effect in essence the size saving effect
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is when the mof acts as a sieve mofs
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have atoms that are aligned in a
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specific way to generate very narrow
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pore sizes while retaining a very high
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surface area this means that if brine
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with a high lithium concentration is
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passed through an mof membrane it can
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pass through it like a sieve whereas
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larger molecules like magnesium and Cal
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calcium which are 100 to 200 percent
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larger than lithium failed to do so
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the second way mof's work is by
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utilizing the electrochemical Affinity
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between the metal atom in the framework
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and the lithium ion being filtered
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through the sieve the electronegativity
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difference means that the flow rate of
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only lithium is enough for it to make it
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through the mesh whereas any magnesium
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or calcium ions that might have somehow
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made it past any broken mesh hole are
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repelled away
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energyx CEO Teague Egan explained how
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the technology being used at energy X
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had been developed by Nobel
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prize-winning American scientist John B
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good enough a person considered by most
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to be the creator of the modern day
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lithium-ion battery the team working at
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energy X is basically Dr John B good
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enough's University of Texas battery
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team their VP for example is Dr John's
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last PhD student while other members of
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the team are also various postdoctoral
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graduates who worked with Dr John at
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some point Dr John's understanding of
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how Lithium-ion batteries fundamentally
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work combined with The Cutting Edge
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technology being used at energyx has
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been super helpful in coming up with
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innovative solutions to the lithium
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problem
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now while this does sound amazing mfo
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membranes aren't a one-size-fits-all
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solution the mfo membranes need to be
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adjusted and modified according to the
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Salt concentration and the different
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quantities of minerals present in brine
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specific to a region Bolivian brine for
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example has higher magnesium content
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whereas Argentinian brine might have a
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higher calcium concentration
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whatever the case might be mfos do look
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like the right way to go they need just
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a few warehouses to process the brine
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instead of thousands of hectares of salt
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flats and unlike some other lithium
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processing methods like water intensive
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resin extraction aren't limited by the
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raw materials present to cap it all the
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cost is half of what traditional
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processing costs down from five thousand
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dollars per ton for Salt Flat lithium
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extraction to about twenty five hundred
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dollars per ton for energy X mfo
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membrane lithium extraction the entire
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process is completely scalable too the
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first plant that energy X started in
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Bolivia was a success and proved that
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technology was just as good in the field
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as it was in the lab now all that's left
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is for them to scale production and from
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what the CEO has to say about it we
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expect good things to happen in 2023
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according to him they're planning to
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install units that are 10 to 15 times
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larger than the Bolivian pilot plan and
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can process 10 to 15 times the volume of
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brine in 2023 3 however they plan to
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scale this up even more with modular
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equipment 15 times as large as what
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they're installing right now bringing
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the grand total of their 2023
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demonstration units to 225 times the
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size of their Bolivian pilot plants
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as if revolutionizing lithium mining
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wasn't enough energyx also plans to step
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into the solid-state battery business
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soon they have the lithium for it and
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since they aren't plagued by the same
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lithium supply chain issues that other
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companies are struggling with it does
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seem like The Logical Next Step
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energyx claims that it's currently
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focusing on developing a new separator
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for its batteries anode and cathode and
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once they're done with that they plan to
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partner with cell phone companies to
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ship those batteries we're developing
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Next Generation lithium metal batteries
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and looking to partner with large cell
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makers to make these chemistries on a
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large scale for electric vehicles
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currently the company has over 50
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patents covering its proprietary
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lithium-ion transport and separation
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lytos Tech and solid-state lithium metal
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Battery Technology the commercial side
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of the business is also going really
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well with energy X recently getting 450
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million dollars from International
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Investment firm gem according to
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Jonathan Collins managing director of
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The Gem group a tech heavy ESG company
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mining in the Emerging Market is a rare
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find and Gem is delighted to partner
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with energyx a leader and innovator in
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the complicated and historically
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inefficient lithium extraction space
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with new funds and great technology
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energyx does look like it might just be
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the future talking about their contract
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with gem energyx said that gems funding
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for energy X was one of the company's
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biggest accomplishments to date and that
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it gave them award chess to work with
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and scale up their business model
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apparently energy X is not done coming
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up with industry-leading tech and
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mentioned how they were going to use the
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funding from gem to work on some more
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ideas they had in the lab
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to conclude energy X has come up with a
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solution for historically inefficient
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process and their solution is better in
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every way possible
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they've also successfully tested the
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technology and partnered with a
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multi-billion dollar Investment Group to
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launch and perfect the technology as
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they go forward I hope you enjoyed
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watching today's video and if you did be
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sure to leave a like And subscribe for
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more
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