Behind the Bloom Box Hype

The Bloom Box being touted by Bloom Energy is a modification of a fuel cell. Fuel cells not much different than the Bloom Box have been around for decades. They are used in such exotic locations as the Space Shuttle where a reliable and self-contained power source is required. The Bloom Box, like other fuel cells, is not a magic free energy box. Instead it uses natural gas, methane, ethanol, or similar hydrocarbon fuels to create electricity. If fuel cells are already in use, why the hype over Bloom Energy's new model?

Bloom Box Countdown Timer

Bloom Energy has supplied very few details about their Bloom Box fuel cell. Direct comparisons between the efficiency of this new fuel cell with traditional models are not possible without more data from the company. Indeed, the company website, bloomenergy.com, offers little more than a countdown timer. That timer will reach zero at about 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday, February 24^th. Presumably, that's when the company will provide more information.

The Bloom Box is a Fuel Cell

Fuel cells provide cleaner energy than burning hydrocarbons in a typical power plant. The by-product of a hydrocarbon fuel cell is carbon dioxide (CO2). Lest we forget, CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Fuel cells are not, therefore, entirely without environmental repercussions. In the end, both fuel cells and combustion power plants oxidize hydrocarbon fuels, one by igniting it and the other through a more controlled chemical reaction.

60 Minutes' Powder Puff Bloom Box Report

To date, the most information we have about the Bloom Box, comes from a CBS News 60 Minutes report. The 60 Minutes piece was surprisingly light. There was no sign of the formerly hard-hitting investigative journalism which earned the program its reputation. Instead it was little more than a fluff piece; a contrived PR effort controlled by Bloom Energy. 60 Minutes reporter Lesley Stahl, at one point, admitted that she had no idea how to check up on the claims made by Bloom Energy. "You know," she told Bloom Energy's founder, K.R. Sridhar, "it's very difficult for us to come in here and make an evaluation. How are we supposed to know whether what you're saying is true?"

No Real Cost Data for Bloom Box

Bloom Energy has built and sold some units already, according to the CBS report. In California, state and federal incentives cut the cost of alternative energy systems by about half. Which, according to eBay, one of the early testers, makes it more efficient than solar energy from a cost-analysis perspective. Solar energy, of course, is handicapped by the fact that it only generates power when the sun is shining. At present, it is notoriously expensive. Far more expensive than conventionally derived electricity. There is, unfortunately, no way, without further data from Bloom Energy, to determine just how much more or less Bloom Box electricity will cost compared to the electricity we get from coal and gas-fired power plants.

Bloom Box Price: $3000 Someday

What we do know is that Bloom Energy hopes to reduce the cost for a small unit sufficient for one household's power needs to a low, low price of $3000. Once the unit is purchased, it still requires hydrocarbon fuel to make it run. Just how much, Bloom Energy isn't yet saying. That hydrocarbon could be biogas, which would be essentially carbon neutral. Most likely, however, it would be something for which the infrastructure and distribution capacity already exists, natural gas.

Pay Now or Pay Later?

Let's be generous and say that Bloom Boxes can generate electricity for half the cost of getting it from your local electric utility company. Would you be willing to pay $3000 up front for a Bloom Box in order to cut your electric bill in half? Would you ever get a positive payback on that $3000 investment?

Bloom Box/ Home-builder Partnership

It is the initial investment and the negative financial return that prevents us from having fuel cells in our backyards today. Companies like Bloom Energy need to be more creative in their marketing efforts. If indeed, a Bloom Box can be sold for less than $3000, and it offers a significant reduction in ongoing energy costs after that initial investment, then Bloom Energy needs to partner with one or more major national home builders. The home builder would include an installed Bloom Box with the new homes they build. The $3000 would be built-into the mortgage for the new home, making it virtually painless for the home-buyer. After all, home-builders and consumer electronics companies are doing the same thing today with non-essential luxuries like home theater systems and distributed audio with a much higher price tag and a shorter useful life expectancy.

Bloom Box is a Step in the Right Direction

Fuel cells are indeed the power source of the future. One day, every home will have a fuel cell generator on the premises to provide safe and efficient power. After all, nearly half of the electricity generated by conventional power plants is lost during the process of transmitting it from the power plant to your home. Generating power locally, at home, would eliminate that waste if nothing else. Does the Bloom Box make the residential fuel cell feasible today? We simply can't tell until Bloom Energy gives us more information about the comparative power output of the device. Generally speaking, though, their reluctance to give out the numbers behind the Bloom Box don't fill us with confidence.

Sources:
Bloom Energy. BloomEnergy.com

The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? CBS News 60 Minutes. February 18, 2010. Retrieved from www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml on February 22, 2010.