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Directory:BloomBox Fuel Cell by Bloom Energy

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by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News
Feb. 22, 2010


Bloom Energy, a Silicon Valley startup, has developed a fuel cell technology that can run on fuels such as natural gas and bio-gas from landfills. Their BloomBox is purported to be cheaper and cleaner than grid power. They envision seeing their fuel cell in every home in five to ten years with the average unit costing less than $3000 USD.

Bloom Energy, is set to publicly launch their technology on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010. Inventor and CEO, K.R. Sridhar, broke the longstanding silence of his company Sunday, Feb. 21, by doing an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes.

Google was Bloom's first paying customer. A 400 kilowatt BloomBox sits behind one of the buildings on the Mountain View campus and has been powering a large chunk of the building's energy needs since July 2008. [1]

John Doerr, a principle involved in financing the company, who also financed Netscape, Amazon, Google and Segway as startups, predicts that the power companies will see this as a solution rather than competition. "All you need to do is buy a few BloomBoxes and install them in a neighborhood substation."

Contents

Official Website

Videos

A Peek Inside the Bloom Box

Teaser segment prior to Sunday, Feb. 21 airing.

  • In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that's inexpensive and clean. Lesley Stahl gets an inside look at one inventor's "energy machine." 60 Minutes, Sunday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. ET/PT. (YouTube; February 19, 2010)

- - - -

Extra: The Magic Box

  • 60 Minutes gets the first ever look at this potentially revolutionary energy generating device. (YouTube; February 21, 2010)

- - - -

Extra: Plug-In Power Plant

- - - -

Extra: A Skeptic's View

  • Michael Kanellos, editor of the website Greentech Media, has his doubts. (YouTube; February 21, 2010)

- - - -

Extra: Naming the Bloom Box

  • You'll never believe where K.R. Sridhar got the name Bloom. (YouTube; February 21, 2010)

How it Works

Oxygen is combined with fuel within the cell to create a chemical reaction that produces electricity. There's no need for burning or combustion, and no need for power lines from an outside source.

The cell plates are made from sand (turned into ceramic), and are coated with a proprietary ink: green on one side and black on the other.

Photo Gallery

Lesley Stahl of CBS takes a tour of the Bloom Energy manufacturing plant with inventor and CEO K.R. Sridhar
Lesley Stahl of CBS takes a tour of the Bloom Energy manufacturing plant with inventor and CEO K.R. Sridhar

Image:BloomBox modules 300.jpg
Fuel cell stacks. Two of these are said to produce enough energy to power the typical U.S. home.

Leslie Stahl of CBS gets a look inside one of the fuel cell systems.
Leslie Stahl of CBS gets a look inside one of the fuel cell systems.


Profiles

Company: Bloom Energy

Silicon Valley startup.

The company has reportedly raised nearly $400 million in funding. Besides Google, Wal-Mart, Staples, and eBay are also testing them, as is FedEx at its hub in Oakland. Sridhar says he hopes to see the day when the average consumer could buy a unit for less than $3,000. [2]

Sridhar's son came up with the name "Bloom", to signify the blooming of the future: blooming of jobs, blooming of clean energy. [3]

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell joined their board of directors last year.

Inventor: K.R. Sridhar

Sridhar is an India-born scientist with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. He first began developing the technology for providing oxygen on Mars. When NASA scrapped that project, he thought to reverse the fuel cell process and use oxygen with fuel to produce electricity.

Resources

In the News


  • Fuel Efficiency > Fuel Cells > BloomBox >
    Bloom vs. Solar: Which One Is Best? - Bloom is more expensive than solar, but available 24/7, though it has a higher maintenance requirement and shorter warranty period. Solar wins in the carbon footprint category and has already passed through the UL approval hoops. (Wired; Feb. 24, 2010)
  • Fuel Cells > Bloom Energy >
    10 Fuel Cell Startups Hot on Bloom Energy’s Trail - While Bloom Energy has raised more VC investment than many of these startups combined, it isn’t unique in aiming its sights at the holy grail of grid parity. Here are 10 startups that could be hot on Bloom Energy’s trail: ClearEdge Power, Ceres Power, Neah Power Systems, ReliOn, P21, ACAL Energy, CellEra, Intelligent Energy, Electro Power Systems, EnStorage. (Earth2Tech; Feb. 22, 2010)
  • Is Bloom Energy’s Secret Ingredient Zirconia? - Bloom Energy held its big coming out party last night on 60 Minutes. And while founder K.R. Sridhar went over the potential and promise of the company's Bloom boxes, he got a little vague when it came to what makes it tick. (GreenTechMedia; Feb. 22, 2010)
  • The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? - Large corporations have been testing a new device that can generate power on the spot, without being connected to the electric grid. Will we have one in every home someday? Lesley Stahl reports. (60 Minutes; February 21, 2010 5:00 PM)
  • Is Bloom Energy’s Fuel Cell Miracle For Real? - The interwebs are aflutter with excitement over Bloom Energy’s top secret “Bloom Box” fuel cell system finally revealing itself. … Sound like hype? Their PR team has certainly been working in overdrive… (TriplePundit; Feb. 20, 2010)

Links


Comments

Feel free to view/post comments at our Examiner.com coverage.

See also Discussion page

Contact

http://www.bloomenergy.com/contact-request.php


See also


FUEL EFFICIENCY

FUEL TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

VEHICLE HARDWARE MODIFICATIONS

AWARDS

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