Elon Musk’s overarching goal is to save the world from the damage excess carbon emissions. To achieve that goal, the Tesla Gigafactory produces lithium ion batteries, supporting the Tesla vehicles and providing low-cost batteries using alternative energy sources.
The main goal of Tesla Gigafactory is to make its own lithium-ion batteries to reduce its battery costs by more than a third by 2018. It also aims to continue to drive down the price of these batteries, financially encourage the use of alternative energy sources.
And, this could not only revolutionizes the automotive industry but could soon power the whole world.
Musk said, “We actually did the calculations to say like, what would it take to transition the whole world to sustainable energy – what kind of through point would you actually need?”
“And you need 100 Gigafactories.”
And, when Leo questions that 100 of these factories could power the United States, Musk clarifies, “No, the whole world – all energy.”
According to him, “The factory will be producing 35-gigawatt hours of batteries by 2018. That’s the equivalent of the entire world’s production. The factory has the capacity to produce 150-gigawatt hours if it needs to. To put that in context, New York City uses around 52-gigawatt hours of energy per year.”
By having a concern about climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio met with Musk at the Gigafactory this past year. When Leo enters in the factory, he was struck by the robot ‘holy crap’ with sleek efficiency. Musk and Leo had discussed renewable resources and the future of energy as it relates to climate change.
They continued, “The sooner we can take action, the less harm will result.”
Musk claimed, “The sun doesn’t shine all the time, so you’ve got to store it in a battery. And, if we are able to shift more completely towards alternative and renewable energy sources, you could avoid building electricity plants at all.”
There is no doubt that alternative energy is the future. With recent advancements, it is also becoming more powerful than ever. For example, solar cell. In fact, inspired by photosynthesis, researchers recently combined the principles of quantum physics and biology to drastically improve current solar capabilities.
At the other hand, scientists even created a synthetic leaf that can efficiently convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide.
Musk said, “I think these low-cost, green batteries could help to support a future where alternative energy is the majority. Even this Gigafactory could be one of many steps in the right direction.”