One of Newsweek's 50 Disruptive Innovators. Bill Gross is involved in three ventures, including a company that works on gravity storage systems
COURTESY OF BILL GROSS
There is a person aiming to solve the energy problem with a three-pronged operation. Bill Gross, the man behind three climate change ventures. Surprise! A huge tower-like energy vault storage system (video) In 1973, when I was a teenager, I became aware of the energy problem. When OPEC stopped exporting oil to the United States and other countries, his family could only buy $5 worth of gasoline once every two days in their quota. "I was blown away," he says. Gross, who advanced into the technical field, explored ways to use energy that is friendly to the earth and established Hiriogen. The company has developed a system in which a large number of mirrors, which can be precisely turned by automatic control, are installed in deserts, etc., and the sunlight is concentrated at one point to generate a high temperature of 1,000 degrees. This heat can be used to manufacture steel and cement. Energy consumption for these applications accounts for about 10% of global CO2 emissions, more than emissions from automobiles and aircraft combined. Energy Vault, another company that Gross helped found, has a flagship product that is a gravity storage system. Using potential energy, it stores electricity when stacking 35-ton blocks made of solidified mud and waste like a tower, and generates electricity when they fall. Compared to other power storage devices, it is safer, cheaper, and enables long-term power storage. IBM's head of research and development, Bernard Meyerson, praises the idea of adding "advanced engineering" to the basics of Newtonian mechanics. And the third startup Gross has been involved with is Carbon Capture. As its name suggests, it provides a system that captures carbon directly from the atmosphere. In the future, he says, his dream is to bring his company together and make it the “largest global warming prevention company in history.” Bill GrossHiriogen Founder / Co-Founder of Energy Vault / Co-Founder of Carbon Capture [Kelly Ann Lensley, Megan Gunn]
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