It was almost exactly one year ago that X, Alphabet’s secretive “moonshot” development division, released the details of its energy storage concept code named Project Malta. Led by Nobel Prize–winning Stanford physics professor Robert Laughlin, the technology is said to offer vast cost and functionality improvements on lithium ion batteries and pumped hydroelectric for grid-scale energy storage. If the concept proves successful it could offer the means to power our energy system with 100% renewable generation. Less than a year on from the Bloomberg article that first announced the X project, rumours are circulating that Project Malta is ready to be spun off. Reports suggest that discussions may be advanced for a transaction involving Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), the $1 billion investment fund led by Bill Gates and other well known millionaires including Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Mukesh Ambani, and Richard Branson. BEV have declared their mission to support technologies capable of cutting global carbon […]