A three-person clean energy team in Seattle is chasing China in pursuit of an increasingly popular alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Emerald Battery Labs, a startup working out of the University of Washington, recently raised just under $1.1 million in a pre-seed round to continue scaling its sodium-ion battery technology.

The burgeoning energy storage option avoids the use of lithium, which is highly sought, difficult to extract and has limited U.S. production. Sodium, by comparison, is much cheaper and comes from the same element that’s in table salt. The sodium-ion batteries also last longer and present fewer fire concerns.

Battery demand is rising rapidly as these systems pair with renewable, intermittent sources like sun and wind; enhance hydro dam capacity; provide backup power for data centers; power drones and defense devices; and work with EV charging stations to reduce grid strain during peak demand.

“As battery chemistries evolve, as technology evolves, people are going to find new ways to use energy storage technology,” said David Bell, Emerald’s co-founder and chief product officer.

Growing interest

A recent Sightline Climate survey of investors and entrepreneurs in climate tech selected sodium-ion batteries as a top-pick for a 2026 breakthrough technology, coming in just behind the use of AI for clean tech materials discovery.

But there’s already a clear leader in the space.

“China, with its powerful EV industry, has led the early push” into sodium-powered batteries, according to MIT Technology Review.

Chinese auto and battery makers Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., or CATL, and BYD are in hot pursuit of the technology, MIT reports. CATL claims to have a sodium-ion battery line operating at scale, while BYD is building its own massive production facility.

U.S. competitors include Peak Energy, Nanode Battery Technologies and Unigrid.

While this alternative chemistry offers numerous benefits, there’s an important trade off: it’s less energy dense — meaning sodium-ion batteries need to be larger than competing technologies to deliver the same amount of power.

Emerald’s path forward

Emerald is operating out of the UW’s CoMotion Labs and using the university’s Clean Energy Testbeds for fabrication work. The startup is scaling production and looking for partners to pilot test its products.

It plans to hire additional employees in the coming year. Emerald’s investors include Seattle-based E8, a network of angel investors that backs clean-tech companies; E8 members who directly invested; and an undisclosed family venture office.

Emerald’s founders bring deep battery experience:

• Bell led product management and customer programs at Group14, which is manufacturing next generation silicon-anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, and worked at Ionic Materials.
• Kjell Schroder, CEO and chief technologist, held leadership roles at Form Energy, Ionic and EnPower.
• Aric Stocks, chief operating officer, is a trained materials engineer and former global business development leader at Group14.

Thinner lithium sulfur batteries may be closer thanks to a foamed, protein-based binder that forms microchannels inside the cathode. A new report says those pathways survive calendering, even after heavy compression.

The post Thinner lithium sulfur batteries could fit your devices without bulky packs appeared first on Digital Trends.

— Amazon’s Uwem Ukpong has a new title, moving from vice president of Global Services to VP of AWS Industries.

Ukpong has been with the tech giant for more than four years, joining from energy technology company Baker Hughes.

Ukpong’s resume is dominated by a 22-year stretch at Schlumberger, a Houston-based software and internet company that has offices internationally.

— Alicia Teel is now acting director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. She was previously deputy director of the department, which supports small businesses and economic growth.

Teel began her career at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce where she worked for more than 15 years.

At the Office of Economic Development, “[o]ur talented team is dedicated to leading projects and making investments that open up access to economic opportunities across our city, reduce the racial wealth gap, and encourage innovation and growth,” Teel said in a statement.

In announcing the appointment, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson thanked former director Markham McIntyre “for his leadership supporting small business recovery after the pandemic.”

McIntyre was in the role for four years. He also previously held leadership positions with the Chamber of Commerce, leaving the title of executive VP.

— Manik Gupta is leaving his role as corporate VP of Microsoft Teams.

“With Teams, I had the opportunity to combine my consumer DNA with learning the scale and complexity of the enterprise. The lessons, playbooks, and friendships I’ve gained will stay with me always,” Gupta said on LinkedIn.

Gupta, who is based in California, joined Microsoft in 2021. He said he’s exploring career options in AI, adding that “I’m convinced that the hardest and most interesting work in AI now lies in turning powerful models into products people can rely on every day.”

— ESS appointed Drew Buckley as CEO of the Oregon-based, long-duration energy storage company. Buckley joined the battery company in August as leader of its investor relations and capital market strategy. He previously spent 17 years as a technology-focused partner at the financial services firm William Blair.

“Drew brings an incredible track record of success, with the experience and industry relationships necessary to lead ESS to its next stage, manufacturing and delivery of our first Energy Base projects, and broader commercialization expected to commence this year,” said Harry Quarls, ESS board chairman.

ESS also named Kate Suhadolnik as chief financial officer from her current role as interim CFO. Suhadolnik has been with the publicly-traded company for more than four years.

Eric Dresselhuys resigned as ESS CEO in February and Kelly Goodman, who had been vice president of legal, became the interim chief executive. Goodman is now chief strategy officer and general counsel.

— Savanna Thompson is chief business operations officer role at fusion company Helion Energy after serving as VP of people & workplace Operations. She has been with the Everett, Wash., business for more than three years.

“As we move from building fusion machines to deploying fusion power plants, this role reflects the importance of scaling our teams, systems, and infrastructure that support our ambitious goals,” said Helion CEO David Kirtley in announcing the promotion.

Thompson joined Helion from 98point6, a Seattle telehealth company.

— Jackie Ostlie has returned to Microsoft, taking the role of director of AI initiatives in Microsoft Learning.

“I am incredibly grateful to Rachel Richardson for the opportunity and am excited to be back with some of the world’s smartest, kindest, most supportive humans in tech,” Ostlie said on LinkedIn.

Ostlie rejoins the company after a leadership role at Google Cloud Learning. Her career has included positions with multiple Seattle-area organizations including Veeam Software, Expedia and the nonprofit World Vision.

— After recently landing a $40 million investment, Seattle AI roleplay startup Yoodli appointed two new leaders.

• Emma Day is principal recruiter at Yoodli, leaving a comparable role at Seattle-based tech hiring platform Karat. “Yoodli has the rare and beautiful combination of an incredible mission — to help people communicate with confidence, a world-class team and a TON of growth ahead,” Day said on LinkedIn.
• Grayson Hay is principal software engineer, building on similar past roles at CodeSee, Tableau Software and Microsoft. Hay’s varied career also includes cinematography and bungee fitness instructor.

— Seattle cryptocurrency company Coinme named Hazen Baron as its general counsel. Baron is based in Arkansas and past employers include Walmart, fintech company Stronghold, and others.

Late last month Coinme announced an agreement with Washington state regulators to pause a temporary cease-and-desist order, clearing the way for the company to resume operations in the state.

— Jason Cavness, a Seattle-based U.S. market development partner for TechBank, is now a fellow with Earth Venture Capital, a Vietnam-based firm investing in climate tech internationally.

— The Microsoft Alumni Network, which represents more than 290,000 former Microsoft employees, has expanded its board of trustees, appointing eight new members:

• Declan Bradshaw, a 22-year employee based in Dublin and Redmond, Wash., who led Xbox’s European launch.
• George Durham, a leader of community engagement, global Technology for Good programs, and other roles after joining in 2004.
• Erendira Gonzalez, who over three decades led multicultural teams and launched the first Microsoft Technology Center in Latin America.
• Bill Kirst, who served as the director of change for Commercial Systems & Business Intelligence.
• Laura Luethe, who leads strategic content and communications as Microsoft HR’s director of communications.
• Somanna Palacanda, a 23-year employee who leads International Social Impact for Microsoft Elevate.
• Michelle September, who spent nearly 20 years at Microsoft and worked in account management, industry leadership, among other roles.
• Andrew Winnemore, VP of Microsoft for HR People Operations.

In addition, Larry Hryb, a longtime Xbox leader, was named vice chair of the Microsoft Alumni Network board.

Anyone paying attention to battery research sees sulfur come up frequently. That's mostly because sulfur is a great storage material for lithium, and it could lead to lithium batteries with impressive power densities. But sulfur can participate in a wide range of chemical reactions, which has made it difficult to prevent lithium-sulfur batteries from decaying rapidly as the sulfur forms all sorts of unwanted materials. As a result, despite decades of research, very few lithium-sulfur batteries have made it to market.

But a team of Chinese researchers has managed to turn sulfur's complex chemistry into a strength, making it the primary electron donor in a sodium-sulfur battery that also relies on chlorine for its chemistry. The result, at least in the lab, is an impressive energy per weight with extremely inexpensive materials.

Sulfur chemistry

Sulfur sits immediately below oxygen on the periodic table, so you might think its chemistry would look similar. But that's not the case. Like oxygen, it can participate in covalent bonding in biological chemistry, including in two essential amino acids. Also, like oxygen, it can accept electrons from metals, as seen in some atomically thin materials that have been studied. But it's also willing to give electrons up, forming chemical compounds with things like chlorine and oxygen.

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“All this started with a really hot summer day in ’21,” said Chris Muench, sitting in a small conference room at Hyviva, his startup based in Redmond, Wash.

The Pacific Northwest was being scorched in a heat dome and Muench’s power went out at his home in nearby Duvall. The experience led him to purchase solar panels, but he also wanted to capture the excess power that was generated when the sun was shining its brightest, socking it away for when it wasn’t.

That led Muench and his wife, Sanja, to launch Hyviva in 2023. While many companies use the excess solar power to charge traditional batteries that hold the energy, this startup is harnessing the surplus power to turn water into hydrogen and storing that. The hydrogen is then turned back into energy via fuel cells when the electricity is needed.

This month, the business is shipping its first devices to customers.

Hyviva is initially targeting residential solar installations, a potentially ripe market as long-standing policies allowing homeowners to sell their unneeded solar power back to utilities are being phased out in many places. That excess power can total 20% or more of a household’s daily energy generation, according to a solar trade group.

“That’s the catalyst for storage,” said Paul Owen, chief marketing officer. “You’ve got this opportunity that’s going to waste right now.”

Stored solar power can also reduce a home’s reliance on utility-provided electricity — which is getting more expensive — and keep the lights on and fridge running during power outages.

A hydrogen storage solution

Hyviva’s device is a little narrower than a standard refrigerator, built from stacked units with a shiny black casing. Here’s how it works:

• Water plumbed into the system goes into an electrolyzer that splits it into hydrogen and oxygen. The excess energy from the solar panels essentially powers the electrolyzer.
• The hydrogen flows into slender, stainless steel tanks containing a metal that binds the gas, forming a metal hydride that stores the hydrogen.
• When power is needed, the metal hydride is heated, releasing the hydrogen that flows into fuel cells that convert it to electricity.
• All of the electrical and plumbing hardware are integrated into the structure of the unit, so installation requires little skilled labor.
• Because of their modularity, the systems are easy to expand to increase storage capacity.

“Every module can be plugged into another module without the need of a hydrogen expert,” Chris Muench said. “Just ‘Lego brick’ them together, and then you decide how much power draw do you want, how much storage do you want, how much hydrogen you want to generate.”

The Hyviva technology connects to an existing solar system’s inverter, which manages electricity flow. The startup’s software then optimizes the flow of energy into the home, balancing inputs from the grid, solar panels and the storage device.

The five-person company is promoting its technology online and was at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas last January. Hyviva’s initial customers are in Europe and the first units are being built in Germany. The startup can also do manufacturing in Redmond for U.S. customers.

Costs and competition

Hyviva’s biggest U.S. rival is the Tesla Powerwall system that uses conventional lithium-ion batteries to hold power. The company reported $7.4 billion in revenue last year from energy generation, and that number has continued to climb.

Hyviva touts its product’s competitive features across performance, safety and longevity. The startup’s basic system holds more power — 33.6 kilowatt hours to Tesla’s 13.5 kWh. While blazes are uncommon, lithium ion batteries pose a fire risk that’s greater than the hydrogen present in a Hyviva device for short periods. And conventional batteries lose capacity over time, while the metal hydride retains its hydrogen storage capabilities for decades.

The startup, however, faces big hurdles when it comes to costs.

Tesla’s Powerwall 3 costs roughly $15,000, including the system and installation costs, while a Hyviva unit is priced at about $40,000.

But when it comes to scaling the storage capacity, the cost advantage flips as it’s cheaper and easier to add hydrogen storage to the Hyviva system. So a 90-kilowatt hour setup is about $50,000 for the startup, while the company estimates a comparable Tesla system would cost $82,000 installed.

To put the capacity in perspective, a U.S. single-family household consumes around 80 kilowatt hours of power per day on average. The cost benefits of the larger deployments continue amplifying for commercial- and industrial-scale applications, the company said.

The broader picture

As power demand keeps expanding globally, experts estimate that $1.2 trillion worth of battery energy storage will be needed through 2034. That escalating need is reflected in pockets of growth in the sector, including a Texas startup called Base Power that leases batteries to homeowners and recently announced $1 billion in new funding. And energy storage is being paired with data centers to reduce their power grid impacts, including at an Oregon campus that’s installing 31 megawatts of batteries.

At the same time, Hyviva and others face political headwinds at the federal level as the current administration pushes policies and budgets that hobble renewable energy companies and deployments.

But the startup is attracting interest, said Chief Operations Officer John Traynor. It has funding from an angel investor and reports having dozens of potential customers, with commercial sites and utilities reaching out as well.

“That’s given us the confidence that we’re on the right track,” Traynor said.

Editor’s note: Story updated to elaborate on how the energy storage system works.