Osegi
Startups·1 min read

CMBlu: Franconian Startup Builds Lithium-Free Large-Scale Batteries

German startup CMBlu is developing large-scale storage without lithium: non-flammable, free of critical raw materials and built on a regional supply chain.

Two glass tubes on a laboratory shelf holding yellowish carbon compound powder and small black granules.
Image: t3n Magazin
SUMODialoediviewergiftdetect

CMBlu, a German startup from Franconia, wants to offer an alternative to the lithium batteries that have become ubiquitous. The company is developing large-scale storage systems that, according to its own goals, cannot burn, do not rely on critical raw materials and can be built with a regional supply chain.

A carbon compound at the core

The decisive innovation is a carbon compound. To show it, Nastaran Krawczyk of CMBlu leaves her office and heads into the neighboring building: across a pedestrian crossing and a car park, up a few flights of stairs, and between glass-walled laboratories. There, on a shelf, sit two small glass tubes. One holds a yellowish powder, the other tiny black pellets.

Both contain the same carbon compound, once in its original state and once processed into granules. Which compound it is, Krawczyk does not say. The company treats it as a trade secret.

Why it matters

Lithium batteries dominate everything from consumer devices to grid storage, which ties many applications to the same materials and the same fire risks. CMBlu is pursuing the opposite approach for large installations: a technology that avoids lithium altogether, cannot catch fire and draws on supply chains close to home.

The three promises are ambitious, and the company's decision to keep the exact compound confidential means outsiders cannot yet assess the chemistry in detail. What the startup has made clear is the direction: stationary large-scale storage built around a carbon-based material rather than lithium, developed and produced in Germany.

For energy providers and industrial customers looking for storage that is safer and less dependent on scarce resources, the approach is one to watch. Whether it can compete with established lithium systems will depend on what the company can demonstrate beyond the laboratory shelf.

Apps worth a look

SUMO: the number puzzle

Tap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.

Tags:cmblubattery storagelithium-freeenergy storagegermanystartup

More from this day

See all →

More in: Startups

See all →