Found Energy, a startup in Boston, aims to harness the energy in scraps of aluminum metal to power industrial processes without fossil fuels. Since 2022, the company has worked to develop ways to rapidly release energy from aluminum on a small scale. Now it's just switched on a much larger version of its aluminum-powered engine, which it claims is the largest aluminum-water reactor ever built. Early next year, it will be installed to supply heat and hydrogen to a tool manufacturing facility in the southeastern US, using the aluminum waste produced by the plant itself as fuel. If everything works as planned, this technology, which uses a catalyst to unlock the energy stored within aluminum metal, could transform a growing share of aluminum scrap into a zero-carbon fuel. Rondo Energy just turned on what it says is the world's largest thermal battery, an energy storage system that can take in electricity and provide a consistent source of heat.

We got a sneak peek inside Found Energy's lab, just as it gears up to supply heat and hydrogen to its first customer. The crushed-up soda can disappears in a cloud of steam and--though it's not visible--hydrogen gas. "I can just keep this reaction going by adding more water," says Peter Godart, squirting some into the steaming beaker. "This is room-temperature water, and it's immediately boiling. Doing this on your stove would be slower than this." Godart is the founder and CEO of Found Energy, a startup in Boston that aims to harness the energy in scraps of aluminum metal to power industrial processes without fossil fuels.