The world uses a lot of copper, but thanks to the energy transition and data centers, it will need much more. Between now and 2050, we should produce more copper than has been mined in all of human history, according to a study.
Much of that copper—and even more aluminum—ends up in the U.S. power grid, which is showing its age.
“We’re hitting this tipping point of artificial intelligence and the electrification of almost every industry, and it’s creating this point where we’ve overloaded and overstressed the energy grid,” said Amir Mashal, founder and CEO of Arcturushe told TechCrunch.
One option is to throw more metal at the problem, but Mashal said his stealth startup offers an alternative. Arcturus can reduce the amount of energy electrical conductors lose to heat by injecting carbon nanomaterials into copper and aluminum using lasers. Replacing traditional metal with Arcturus’ material would allow power lines of the same size to carry more electricity.
Practically, this could cut the losses on the power grid in half, which would unlock it immediately about 3% more electricity on average and up to 10% more during peak periods when the grid arguably needs it most. At the low end, that’s about it one year’s worth increase in demand in the US
“Copper loses conductivity as it heats up, so the hotter it gets, the more energy it wastes as heat,” Mashal said. “As I continued to peel back the layers of this onion, it all started to click for me because I noticed that the same limit appears everywhere. The modern world really runs on metals.”
While the grid is the ultimate destination for a materials startup like Arcturus, the company is starting smaller with drones, robotics and, yes, data centers, where a few percentage points more electricity can have a big impact.
The company exclusively told TechCrunch that it raised $8 million in a seed round led by Initialized Capital with participation from Toyota Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, 1517 and Wireframe Ventures.
Mashal has been quietly refining his materials in a garage in Malibu, California, where he is able to produce several centimeters of wire as a proof of concept. With the new funding, he plans to ramp up to tens of meters so that the nano-injected materials can be tested in a variety of applications, including windings in electric motors and balances in power distribution equipment.
Although the materials’ properties are new, Mashal said they are designed to be a “drop-in case” to existing copper and aluminum applications. “Same form factors, no system redesign, no new training for people to handle or crunch the hardware.”
Arcturus’ materials could make for lighter drones or more efficient EVs. By reducing the amount of energy lost to heat, they can also reduce data center cooling needs.
“All of these industries have the same kinds of bottlenecks, whether it’s your drone wanting to have twice the flight time or your graphics card just getting too hot,” Mashal said. “These are all areas where our hardware can fundamentally disrupt things.”
Update 1:40 p.m. ET: It clarifies that aluminum, in addition to copper, ends up in the electrical grid.
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