Emin Askerov
Cleantech FOAK Advisor

Turkey's EV startup is ramping up sales.

You have to choose between your ego and your fees. This was a phrase I heard while listening to the Redefining Energy podcast episode “Northvolt - Epitaph.” It sums up perfectly the choice Europe is facing in the battery industry. Here is why.  This year, I’ve actively traveled around Europe, meeting with battery industry players. I was representing my client, a Korean company specializing in the most difficult part of battery manufacturing - making anode and cathode electrod

As 2024 wraps up, it’s time to reflect on a year that was anything but dull for the climate tech world. A buzzword dominated this year— FOAK (First-of-a-Kind).  It symbolizes the growing realization that proving your tech in a lab is one thing, but scaling it to a factory is a different beast. Many startups found themselves stuck in the dreaded Valley of Death  between proving a pilot and scaling up. I’ve written a few epitaphs on those who didn’t make it this year ( here , h

This week, I listened to two excellent podcasts dissecting the saga of Northvolt

Observations from the second week of meeting EU battery players

Northvolt’s stumble is not a death knell; it’s a wake-up call.

Why read my blog?

AI and lithium-ion electrode manufacturing

As VW shuts down factories and Chinese EVs flood the market, it’s clear that Europe’s legacy automakers are feeling the pressure

You need data to optimize production, but production has to be running to generate that data.

How a flow-battery maker, Redflow, met its untimely end.

🚀 Scaling Up Hardware? Fraunhofer’s Battery Ramp-Up Report Shows Just How Hard It Gets!

Every waste management project hinges on a single, often-overlooked factor that can make or break it: the supply of waste. Circular economists love to talk about the mountains of waste piling up around us, but try building a recycling facility, and you’ll quickly discover that all that “waste” is either elusive, diverted elsewhere, or just not there yet. And in the case of battery recycling, the waste is barely even on the map.  Last week, Eramet announced a pause on its plan

Last month, IRENA quietly dropped a report on critical materials in the battery supply chain—yet I saw barely a blip about it on LinkedIn. Let’s give it the spotlight it deserves, with a few key takeaways from the report.  But first, a little context: IRENA’s calculations are based on their own 1.5°C scenario, which means that by 2030, they predict the global EV fleet will jump from 44 million vehicles today to 359 million, requiring a 5x increase in EV battery production.  H

🔋 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆? 🚀

McKinsey’s New Report Says It’ll Cost a Pretty Penny. 💶🚗 

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...the EU embarked on a mission to break free from the grip of battery giants.