Every tonne of aluminum contains roughly 8.6 MWh of stored energy, and at 23 MWh per cubic meter, it is one of the most volumetrically energy dense materials (2x diesel). A single aluminum soda can contains enough energy to charge an iPhone 14 over 10 times. The source of this energy is primarily from electricity consumed during the aluminum smelting process (we can think of aluminum smelters as enormous battery chargers), which can be up to a 70% efficient process.

Aluminum, like other fuels we are used to (e.g. hydrocarbons), can undergo oxidation. In our case, we oxidize aluminum with water, converting this stored energy to heat and hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be oxidized (burned in a furnace, engine, or turbine, or run through a fuel cell) to capture the full 8.6 MWh per tonne of aluminum.

Today millions of tons of aluminum waste are landfilled each year. This waste stream can be turned into a fully green fuel by saving it from landfills, where that stored energy would otherwise sit idle. In many cases, additional transport emissions can be abated by eliminating the exporting of this aluminum.

Primary aluminum is aluminum that is smelted from bauxite ore, as opposed to secondary (recycled), aluminum. While there are carbon emissions associated with using primary aluminum for fuel, there are already some smelters (e.g. in Canada) where fuel derived from primary aluminum would have a lower carbon intensity than diesel today. Because aluminum smelting is already fully electrified, the carbon intensity of primary aluminum production will drastically drop as the grid electricity mix is decarbonized. The industry is ramping investments in technologies to remove those remaining carbon emissions not associated with the electricity mix, thus enabling full decarbonization. As that process develops, the emission-free smelting combined with aluminum’s abundance – it is the most abundant metal, and third most abundant element in the earth’s crust – energy density, and safety, perfectly position it to act as a global renewable energy carrier.

Found Energy’s technology uses a proprietary catalyst and treatment process in order to crack the protective oxide layer that naturally forms on aluminum as it interacts with oxygen. Once the aluminum is treated, it becomes activated and ready to be reacted with water for power generation. This process works with low quality aluminum waste and is minimally sensitive to contamination.

When activated aluminum is reacted with water, approximately 51% of the energy is contained in the chemical bonds of the hydrogen released and 49% of the energy is released as direct heat. Excess water in the reactor carries away the direct heat as steam, which can be put to further use as process heat for a suite of industrial processes or for building conditioning.

During the reaction process hydrogen and heat are released. When the reaction is finished, the aluminum is fully oxidized and a new material is formed, green aluminum hydroxide. In nature, aluminum is found predominantly in Bauxite ore as various aluminum hydroxides. Aluminum hydroxide is used in pharmaceuticals, cement, fire suppressants, and importantly as the primary raw material for the aluminum industry.

Alumina is aluminum oxide (Al2O3). Aluminum oxide is the main material used by the aluminum industry and is the feedstock for the smelting process. Aluminum oxide is the final product of the bayer process where bauxite is refined to aluminum hydroxide and then baked (dried) into aluminum oxide.

Aluminum is produced all around the world, with major centers in North America, the Middle East, China, India, Russia, Australia and even Iceland. Aluminum is normally produced in regions with abundant cheap electricity and effectively acts as a means for countries to export excess energy.

Aluminum is the 2nd most used metal in the world. Aluminum is produced from aluminum hydroxide, which is also widely available. In fact, aluminum is the 3rd most abundant element on Earth, comprising about 8.3% of the Earth’s crust.

Aluminum is smelted via the Hall-Heroult process, which uses electricity to electrochemically reduce aluminum oxide to aluminum. The majority of this energy is not lost, but rather is stored in the aluminum’s chemical potential energy. Inefficiencies in this process are primarily due to resistive and thermal losses, as this process requires high temperatures for melting the aluminum oxide in cryolite.