Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Most lithium-ion batteries tap out after a few hours. Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code UNDECIDED at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: incogni.com/undecided. This one just hit 100. And the tech behind it didn't start in a battery lab … it started on Mars, with a NASA experiment designed to split CO2 into carbon and oxygen. Here's how the system works and how it stacks up against lithium-ion for grid-scale energy storage. Could a battery born on Mars actually beat lithium-ion at grid-scale energy storage?
Watch Why America's Most Valuable Resource Is in Your Trash youtu.be/J3afhsZQuVM?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7uzySCXq8VXhodHB5B5OiQ
Video script and citations:
https://undecided.tech/how-mars-technology-gave-us-cheap-energy-storage/
Corrections (clarifications):
Lot of confusion in the comments about how this actually works, so here's the short version. Think photosynthesis, not battery-in-a-tank.
Noon's system pulls CO2 from the air and splits it into solid carbon and oxygen using electricity. The oxygen vents back to the atmosphere; the carbon is what stores the energy ... it's the fuel sitting in the tank. To discharge, the carbon is reoxidized inside a solid oxide fuel cell, recombining with oxygen back into CO2 and releasing electricity as it goes. No net carbon released over a full cycle.
The Mars connection isn't a metaphor: Chris Graves, Noon's co-founder, helped build NASA's MOXIE. The box on Perseverance that made oxygen on Mars by splitting CO2. Same core chemistry, different job.
On "100 hours" — that's how long the system can keep delivering energy from a single charge, not a lifespan or degradation number. It's designed to fill the multi-day backup gap lithium-ion can't (the one we currently fill with natural gas peakers), not to replace lithium in EVs or hour-scale uses. Noon themselves say it's meant to complement lithium, not replace it.
What's still TBD publicly: round-trip efficiency is reported in the 60–80% range. Definitely lower than lithium's 85–95%, but in line with pumped hydro and the reason the LCOS math still works ($0.05/kWh vs $1.20/kWh for lithium at 100-hour duration). Real-world CapEx and cycle life will come from their 25 MW / 2.5 GWh pilot.
Full write-up with sources on the blog: https://undecided.tech/how-mars-technology-gave-us-cheap-energy-storage/
Keep the good questions coming.
Get my achieve energy security with solar guide:
undecided.link/solar-guide
Follow-up podcast:
Video version - youtube.com/channel/UC4-aWB84Bupf5hxGqrwYqLA
Audio version - undecided.link/stilltbd-podcast
Join the Undecided Discord server:
undecided.link/discord
👋 Support Undecided on Patreon!
undecided.link/patreon
Visit my Energysage Portal (US):
Research solar panels, heat pumps, and more to get quotes for free!
undecided.link/energysage
For a curated solar buying experience (Canada)
EnergyPal's free personalized quotes:
undecided.link/energypal
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Some music provided by Epidemic Sound
undecided.link/epidemic
I may earn a small commission for my endorsement or recommendation to products or services linked above, but I wouldn't put them here if I didn't like them. Your purchase helps support the channel and the videos I produce. Thank you.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:27 - The Mars Connection
05:33 - The Energy Solution
08:25 - Skepticisms
Most lithium-ion batteries tap out after a few hours. Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code UNDECIDED at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: incogni.com/undecided. This one just hit 100. And the tech behind it didn't start in a battery lab … it started on Mars, with a NASA experiment designed to split CO2 into carbon and oxygen. Here's how the system works and how it stacks up against lithium-ion for grid-scale energy storage. Could a battery born on Mars actually beat lithium-ion at grid-scale energy storage?
Watch Why America's Most Valuable Resource Is in Your Trash youtu.be/J3afhsZQuVM?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7uzySCXq8VXhodHB5B5OiQ
Video script and citations:
https://undecided.tech/how-mars-technology-gave-us-cheap-energy-storage/
Corrections (clarifications):
Lot of confusion in the comments about how this actually works, so here's the short version. Think photosynthesis, not battery-in-a-tank.
Noon's system pulls CO2 from the air and splits it into solid carbon and oxygen using electricity. The oxygen vents back to the atmosphere; the carbon is what stores the energy ... it's the fuel sitting in the tank. To discharge, the carbon is reoxidized inside a solid oxide fuel cell, recombining with oxygen back into CO2 and releasing electricity as it goes. No net carbon released over a full cycle.
The Mars connection isn't a metaphor: Chris Graves, Noon's co-founder, helped build NASA's MOXIE. The box on Perseverance that made oxygen on Mars by splitting CO2. Same core chemistry, different job.
On "100 hours" — that's how long the system can keep delivering energy from a single charge, not a lifespan or degradation number. It's designed to fill the multi-day backup gap lithium-ion can't (the one we currently fill with natural gas peakers), not to replace lithium in EVs or hour-scale uses. Noon themselves say it's meant to complement lithium, not replace it.
What's still TBD publicly: round-trip efficiency is reported in the 60–80% range. Definitely lower than lithium's 85–95%, but in line with pumped hydro and the reason the LCOS math still works ($0.05/kWh vs $1.20/kWh for lithium at 100-hour duration). Real-world CapEx and cycle life will come from their 25 MW / 2.5 GWh pilot.
Full write-up with sources on the blog: https://undecided.tech/how-mars-technology-gave-us-cheap-energy-storage/
Keep the good questions coming.
Get my achieve energy security with solar guide:
undecided.link/solar-guide
Follow-up podcast:
Video version - youtube.com/channel/UC4-aWB84Bupf5hxGqrwYqLA
Audio version - undecided.link/stilltbd-podcast
Join the Undecided Discord server:
undecided.link/discord
👋 Support Undecided on Patreon!
undecided.link/patreon
Visit my Energysage Portal (US):
Research solar panels, heat pumps, and more to get quotes for free!
undecided.link/energysage
For a curated solar buying experience (Canada)
EnergyPal's free personalized quotes:
undecided.link/energypal
👉 Follow Me
Mastodon
https://mastodon.social/@mattferrell
Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/mattferrell.bsky.social
instagram.com/undecidedtech
Website
https://undecided.tech
Some music provided by Epidemic Sound
undecided.link/epidemic
I may earn a small commission for my endorsement or recommendation to products or services linked above, but I wouldn't put them here if I didn't like them. Your purchase helps support the channel and the videos I produce. Thank you.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:27 - The Mars Connection
05:33 - The Energy Solution
08:25 - Skepticisms
