WEBVTT 00:11.599 --> 00:13.280 What's up, sunshine? Welcome to a 00:13.280 --> 00:15.679 special episode of CNN 10. Today, we are 00:15.679 --> 00:17.440 focusing on one of the biggest issues 00:17.440 --> 00:19.439 facing our planet's future and the 00:19.439 --> 00:21.760 innovative ways one company is looking 00:21.760 --> 00:24.080 to tackle it. We're talking about 00:24.080 --> 00:26.320 energy. It's a crucial part of our 00:26.320 --> 00:28.480 everyday lives. But as the global 00:28.480 --> 00:31.279 population continues to grow, so does 00:31.279 --> 00:34.000 its toll on our planet. Pollution from 00:34.000 --> 00:36.079 our constantly increasing demand for 00:36.079 --> 00:38.719 energy has long been a key driver of the 00:38.719 --> 00:41.120 climatic and environmental disruption 00:41.120 --> 00:43.840 we're seeing. Greenhouse gases and other 00:43.840 --> 00:45.600 emissions are raising global 00:45.600 --> 00:48.239 temperatures, acidifying our oceans, and 00:48.239 --> 00:50.960 fueling extreme weather events. This has 00:50.960 --> 00:53.440 led scientists from around the world to 00:53.440 --> 00:56.000 focus on developing clean, sustainable 00:56.000 --> 00:58.719 ways to help fuel the future. And one of 00:58.719 --> 01:01.199 the minds behind this movement, Dr. 01:01.199 --> 01:03.920 Lonnie Johnson, right here in Atlanta, 01:03.920 --> 01:06.479 Georgia. We got an all access look at 01:06.479 --> 01:09.360 how he and his team at J-Tech Energy are 01:09.360 --> 01:11.920 developing ways to turn waste heat into 01:11.920 --> 01:14.720 clean, sustainable energy. Dr. Lonnie 01:14.720 --> 01:16.640 Johnson is a man who needs no 01:16.640 --> 01:18.720 introduction, and his story reads like a 01:18.720 --> 01:21.119 movie script. The engineer, inventor, 01:21.119 --> 01:23.520 and entrepreneur rose from a childhood 01:23.520 --> 01:26.560 in a deeply segregated Alabama to become 01:26.560 --> 01:28.320 one of the brightest minds of his 01:28.320 --> 01:31.200 generation. He holds more than 100 01:31.200 --> 01:33.840 patents and worked on nuclearpowered 01:33.840 --> 01:36.720 deep space probes for NASA and stealth 01:36.720 --> 01:39.200 bombers for the US Air Force. But he's 01:39.200 --> 01:40.880 also the mind behind one of the 01:40.880 --> 01:43.600 bestselling toys of all time, the Super 01:43.600 --> 01:44.320 Soaker. 01:44.320 --> 01:46.079 >> Super Soaker MDS 01:46.079 --> 01:48.560 >> gives water guns a whole new twist. I've 01:48.560 --> 01:50.640 always been an inventor. I think we're 01:50.640 --> 01:52.159 all inventors. You know, the human 01:52.159 --> 01:54.479 beings, creativity, problem solving. 01:54.479 --> 01:55.920 It's what we're built to do. 01:55.920 --> 01:58.079 >> These days, he's turned his focus to our 01:58.079 --> 02:01.040 planet's energy crisis and the J-Tech, 02:01.040 --> 02:03.040 which stands for Johnson thermmo 02:03.040 --> 02:05.200 electrochemical converter. It creates 02:05.200 --> 02:07.360 energy using an incredibly unique 02:07.360 --> 02:09.440 technique that he hopes will help solve 02:09.440 --> 02:11.920 one of humanity's biggest issues. 02:11.920 --> 02:13.599 >> A lot of the conflicts that you see in 02:13.599 --> 02:17.040 the world are centered on energy, oil. 02:17.040 --> 02:19.840 So if we could reduce our dependence on 02:19.840 --> 02:22.239 oil, we'd not only improve the 02:22.239 --> 02:23.760 environment, 02:23.760 --> 02:25.520 but we'd also have one less thing to 02:25.520 --> 02:26.879 fight about. 02:26.879 --> 02:29.760 >> So I think energy is very important. 02:29.760 --> 02:31.680 >> But he's not doing it alone. He's got a 02:31.680 --> 02:33.599 whole team of bright minds helping make 02:33.599 --> 02:35.519 this a reality and they're still 02:35.519 --> 02:37.120 pinching themselves that they've come 02:37.120 --> 02:38.000 this far. 02:38.000 --> 02:41.200 >> Lonnie is a extraordinary scientist, 02:41.200 --> 02:43.760 engineer, inventor. He puts on his lab 02:43.760 --> 02:46.080 coat and he wants to be in the lab. He's 02:46.080 --> 02:47.440 running experiments. He's trying to 02:47.440 --> 02:49.200 figure out the next big thing. I mean, 02:49.200 --> 02:51.599 Lonnie's a certifiable genius. His mind 02:51.599 --> 02:53.280 just works on a different plane. The 02:53.280 --> 02:56.239 idea of taking waste heat, geothermal 02:56.239 --> 02:58.319 heat, all this heat that comes out of 02:58.319 --> 03:00.000 your car exhaust, comes out of your 03:00.000 --> 03:01.920 chimney of the factory, if we could 03:01.920 --> 03:04.239 capture that and convert that directly 03:04.239 --> 03:06.720 into electricity at high efficiency, it 03:06.720 --> 03:09.040 truly could be a big solution to the 03:09.040 --> 03:10.319 world's energy needs. 03:10.319 --> 03:12.720 >> Okay, you may be wondering how exactly 03:12.720 --> 03:14.800 this process works. That's where Julian 03:14.800 --> 03:16.879 Bell comes in. He's the VP of 03:16.879 --> 03:19.200 engineering at J-Tech and he gave us an 03:19.200 --> 03:21.920 uplose look at the process in real time. 03:21.920 --> 03:24.080 What the J-Tech device does at its 03:24.080 --> 03:26.239 simplest level is it takes waste heat. 03:26.239 --> 03:28.640 Basically, the heat that's produced by 03:28.640 --> 03:30.799 industrial processes and converts it 03:30.799 --> 03:33.280 into electricity at much higher 03:33.280 --> 03:35.360 efficiencies than competing technologies 03:35.360 --> 03:37.920 at potentially much lower temperatures 03:37.920 --> 03:39.519 than competing technologies. You put 03:39.519 --> 03:41.680 waste heat in one side, electrical power 03:41.680 --> 03:43.360 comes out the other side. Do you want to 03:43.360 --> 03:44.879 see how we actually do that? 03:44.879 --> 03:46.400 >> Yes, absolutely. 03:46.400 --> 03:48.159 >> Let's go on around. So, like I said, 03:48.159 --> 03:50.400 we're feeding waste heat into the J-Tech 03:50.400 --> 03:52.799 through this line here. The waist heat 03:52.799 --> 03:56.239 can be sent to one of the one, two, 03:56.239 --> 03:59.519 three, four reactors that we have on 03:59.519 --> 04:01.519 this particular device. So, what's 04:01.519 --> 04:03.360 happening right now actually is we are 04:03.360 --> 04:05.360 feeding waste heat into reactor number 04:05.360 --> 04:07.040 three. Here you can see this light is 04:07.040 --> 04:09.599 on. This reactor here which is full of 04:09.599 --> 04:12.080 hydrogen and is increasing in pressure 04:12.080 --> 04:14.720 is pumping hydrogen out. This reactor 04:14.720 --> 04:16.239 over here which is kept being kept cold 04:16.239 --> 04:18.320 and is sucking hydrogen in is pulling 04:18.320 --> 04:20.720 that hydrogen back in. And that's how we 04:20.720 --> 04:23.600 close this hydrogen cycle to produce 04:23.600 --> 04:24.000 power. 04:24.000 --> 04:25.199 >> So you're kind of using the same 04:25.199 --> 04:26.880 hydrogen all the time. 04:26.880 --> 04:28.560 >> Exactly. That's what's critical here. 04:28.560 --> 04:30.240 That's how we manage to make the system 04:30.240 --> 04:32.639 work without having to add any fuel. All 04:32.639 --> 04:34.720 we're doing is pumping the hydrogen from 04:34.720 --> 04:36.800 one place to another place and then back 04:36.800 --> 04:39.840 again. So if the reactors are one of the 04:39.840 --> 04:41.280 two kind of core things that make a 04:41.280 --> 04:43.280 J-Tech a J-Tech, the stacks are the 04:43.280 --> 04:46.880 other one. Inside the stacks are the 04:46.880 --> 04:49.040 magic component, the membranes that make 04:49.040 --> 04:51.440 hydrogen fuel cells work. The hydrogen 04:51.440 --> 04:53.040 can't sneak its way through that 04:53.040 --> 04:54.960 membrane. So it has to do this really 04:54.960 --> 04:57.040 cool trick where the hydrogen separates 04:57.040 --> 04:59.680 into two hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen 04:59.680 --> 05:01.759 atoms release their electrons to become 05:01.759 --> 05:03.520 protons. And then at that point, those 05:03.520 --> 05:06.639 protons can wiggle through the membrane. 05:06.639 --> 05:08.479 The electrons, meanwhile, though, have 05:08.479 --> 05:10.639 to find their way back to those protons. 05:10.639 --> 05:12.800 And we make them go through a specific 05:12.800 --> 05:14.320 path to do that. We make them actually 05:14.320 --> 05:17.120 come out. Still confused? Let's break 05:17.120 --> 05:19.120 this down even further. And science 05:19.120 --> 05:20.800 teachers, feel free to jump in and back 05:20.800 --> 05:22.800 me up here. Think of it like going 05:22.800 --> 05:25.120 through the security line at an airport. 05:25.120 --> 05:27.120 You're a hydrogen molecule. The 05:27.120 --> 05:28.800 electrons are your bags and the 05:28.800 --> 05:31.120 checkpoint is the membrane. As your 05:31.120 --> 05:33.280 electrons detach and pass through a 05:33.280 --> 05:35.840 load, they create electricity. You 05:35.840 --> 05:37.919 become a proton and pass through the 05:37.919 --> 05:40.320 checkpoint, beating back up on the other 05:40.320 --> 05:43.600 side to reform hydrogen gas. The process 05:43.600 --> 05:45.840 is repeated over and over, and the more 05:45.840 --> 05:48.000 heat you add, the faster it becomes. 05:48.000 --> 05:49.280 >> So, would you like to see this thing do 05:49.280 --> 05:50.240 something useful with the power 05:50.240 --> 05:50.639 producer? 05:50.639 --> 05:53.039 >> I want to see how waste heat was turned 05:53.039 --> 05:54.880 into something we can actually see. 05:54.880 --> 05:55.440 >> Sounds good. 05:55.440 --> 05:56.479 >> Or here. What's this? 05:56.479 --> 05:58.080 >> Yeah. This device here is what's called 05:58.080 --> 05:59.759 a boost converter. It's going to take 05:59.759 --> 06:01.680 the power that's coming from the J-Tech 06:01.680 --> 06:04.000 and boost it into a range that's useful 06:04.000 --> 06:06.400 to us. 06:06.400 --> 06:08.160 >> We 06:08.160 --> 06:10.240 hotter than a man 06:10.240 --> 06:13.280 >> with a mic in my hand. 06:13.280 --> 06:16.080 >> And we have a tribe called Quest. What? 06:16.080 --> 06:18.240 >> All this water that's not even hot 06:18.240 --> 06:20.800 enough to make a cup of coffee. Using 06:20.800 --> 06:22.880 that to generate electricity and throw a 06:22.880 --> 06:23.680 party. 06:23.680 --> 06:25.600 >> Okay. So, now that we have an idea of 06:25.600 --> 06:27.919 how this all works, where could we see 06:27.919 --> 06:30.400 J-Tech help create power in the real 06:30.400 --> 06:32.720 world? Turns out one potential 06:32.720 --> 06:34.880 application involves something we've 06:34.880 --> 06:36.720 been talking about a lot lately, 06:36.720 --> 06:39.759 artificial intelligence. Tech giants are 06:39.759 --> 06:42.319 in a heated race to dominate the AI 06:42.319 --> 06:44.800 landscape and building thousands of data 06:44.800 --> 06:46.639 centers to do it. The Department of 06:46.639 --> 06:48.800 Energy has estimated data centers could 06:48.800 --> 06:52.319 consume up to 12% of US electricity by 06:52.319 --> 06:54.319 the year 2028, 06:54.319 --> 06:56.720 but our aging power grid may not be 06:56.720 --> 06:59.280 ready for the massive demand increase. 06:59.280 --> 07:01.680 And many households could end up footing 07:01.680 --> 07:04.880 the bill for power increases. Plus, not 07:04.880 --> 07:07.039 only do data centers consume a lot of 07:07.039 --> 07:09.840 power, they generate a lot of heat. 07:09.840 --> 07:13.280 J-Tech CEO Mike McQuary or McHugh says 07:13.280 --> 07:15.120 it's the perfect environment for a 07:15.120 --> 07:16.960 J-Tech to thrive. 07:16.960 --> 07:19.919 >> The proliferation of data centers is 07:19.919 --> 07:22.880 almost unimaginable. AI drives a lot of 07:22.880 --> 07:24.240 it, of course, but 07:24.240 --> 07:26.560 >> and they all give off so much heat these 07:26.560 --> 07:27.039 servers. 07:27.039 --> 07:28.960 >> Yeah. Yeah. So, so the heat isn't high, 07:28.960 --> 07:31.680 but the amount of heat is spectacular. 07:31.680 --> 07:33.199 So what we're doing is we're starting to 07:33.199 --> 07:35.280 work with data centers to figure out how 07:35.280 --> 07:38.000 can we put a J-Tech in the stream of 07:38.000 --> 07:40.319 that waste heat to create your own 07:40.319 --> 07:41.840 electricity. So you take some of the 07:41.840 --> 07:44.400 burden off of the grid. So the local 07:44.400 --> 07:46.479 community doesn't have to worry about 07:46.479 --> 07:47.680 our power bills are going to go up 07:47.680 --> 07:48.880 because we're competing with that. 07:48.880 --> 07:50.720 There's going to be a scarcity. So I 07:50.720 --> 07:51.759 think you're going to see a big 07:51.759 --> 07:54.240 application for us in data centers going 07:54.240 --> 07:54.879 forward. 07:54.879 --> 07:57.360 >> And get this, another perfect spot for a 07:57.360 --> 08:00.080 J-Tech has been hiding in plain sight. 08:00.080 --> 08:02.400 the byproduct of traditional energy 08:02.400 --> 08:04.960 production methods. The company says 08:04.960 --> 08:07.440 spent oil and gas wells, which are left 08:07.440 --> 08:09.919 behind once drilling operations end, 08:09.919 --> 08:11.840 present a perfect environment for a 08:11.840 --> 08:14.400 J-Tech to thrive. All the oil's out, all 08:14.400 --> 08:16.240 the natural gases out, but what's left 08:16.240 --> 08:18.560 is a hole that goes down a mile into the 08:18.560 --> 08:20.560 ground. At the bottom of that hole, 08:20.560 --> 08:23.440 geothermal heat. Constant geothermal 08:23.440 --> 08:26.879 heat. If you could extract that heat 08:26.879 --> 08:29.360 with a J-Tech, convert that to 08:29.360 --> 08:30.960 electricity, 08:30.960 --> 08:34.000 I mean, that's that's a game changer. 08:34.000 --> 08:36.640 >> Okay, so we've learned what a J-Tech is, 08:36.640 --> 08:38.800 how the science behind it works, and 08:38.800 --> 08:41.360 where it could help our energy demand. 08:41.360 --> 08:43.599 But another key part of this mission is 08:43.599 --> 08:46.160 the who. We met some positively 08:46.160 --> 08:48.480 inspiring people during our time in the 08:48.480 --> 08:51.360 lab. scientists, engineers, inventors, 08:51.360 --> 08:53.200 and staff members from all different 08:53.200 --> 08:55.360 walks of life coming together for a 08:55.360 --> 08:57.680 common goal. We asked them what advice 08:57.680 --> 08:59.519 they have for the next generation of 08:59.519 --> 09:02.080 bright minds who will tackle this crisis 09:02.080 --> 09:04.959 and how to not lose sight of the big 09:04.959 --> 09:06.880 picture. What's your advice to everyone 09:06.880 --> 09:09.680 out there who someday wants to be a CEO 09:09.680 --> 09:11.600 or an entrepreneur? Something that you 09:11.600 --> 09:13.279 learned along the way that you know made 09:13.279 --> 09:14.480 you who you are today? 09:14.480 --> 09:16.560 >> Yeah, I think a couple things. One is 09:16.560 --> 09:18.720 work at something that excites you. If 09:18.720 --> 09:20.000 you're not excited about it, it's hard 09:20.000 --> 09:23.040 to put your whole self into it. Um, and 09:23.040 --> 09:26.480 then when you're at work, realize that 09:26.480 --> 09:28.000 it's important. What you're doing is 09:28.000 --> 09:30.720 important. And when you're there, learn 09:30.720 --> 09:32.720 from the people around you. I surround 09:32.720 --> 09:35.200 myself with really smart people. You 09:35.200 --> 09:36.959 can't be intimidated by people smarter 09:36.959 --> 09:39.040 than you. You need those people. It's 09:39.040 --> 09:40.320 exciting to come in to work with those 09:40.320 --> 09:41.680 people because you're learning stuff 09:41.680 --> 09:45.839 every day. I love that your team, all 09:45.839 --> 09:49.040 different walks of life, all individuals 09:49.040 --> 09:50.720 who bring their own strengths. They 09:50.720 --> 09:52.240 don't have to be able to do it all. They 09:52.240 --> 09:54.080 don't have to know it all. They rely on 09:54.080 --> 09:56.080 each other and they work towards a 09:56.080 --> 09:58.000 common goal, something that they're 09:58.000 --> 10:00.000 passionate about. And solving a really 10:00.000 --> 10:02.640 big problem like finding better, smarter 10:02.640 --> 10:05.680 uses of energy, creation of energy that 10:05.680 --> 10:08.080 humanity is going to benefit from. Yep. 10:08.080 --> 10:11.880 >> That's incredible stuff.