Bloom Energy: Power Plant in a Box

How would you like to have your very own electric power plant in the backyard? What if having this power plant saved you up to 60 percent of your electricity cost in the economic market today? This could very well happen within a few years if Bloom Energy can make good on their promise of a "power plant in a box". This super secretive (until this week) green energy company is in the process of making solid oxide regenerative fuel cells powered by oxygen and a variety of less expensive fuel sources such as fossil fuels like natural gas, methane, biogas (from landfills), and solar energy.

K. R. Sridhar, who once worked for NASA to create a module that would produce oxygen on Mars, discovered that by reversing the process, he could make electricity instead. The only downside is that his invention does produce carbon dioxide, but only half of what other tradition energy fuels do today.

The basic component is a thin ceramic tile or plate covered by green ink on one side and black ink on the other side. The ink is a secret formula he created and the tiles are made of basic beach sand. He says that two of his "fuel cell blocks" can power a home in the United States and will run continuously 24/7 365 days a year. Although the units currently sell for $700 - $800 hundred thousand dollars each, Sridhar expects his company will be able to make them as cheaply as $2000 per unit in the near future.

John Doerr, an American venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has stood behind Bloom Energy and believes their product will be one of the major solutions for energy needs in the United States and around the world. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell (and who is now on the board of directors at Bloom Energy) foresees a significant green energy role by the company.

With companies like Google, Wal-Mart, eBay, FedEx and other approximately 17 companies using Bloom Energies "Power plant in a box" technology, bugs are being worked out and studies on how efficient and useful this energy source is proving to be. So far, it seems the product is providing outstanding results far beyond the original expectations. Green and clean energy at a very green price is the future for tomorrow.

Sources:
Bloom Energy Unveils its Ultra-Secretive Bloom Box Fuel Cell, by Ariel Schwartz, Feb 21, 2010
Bloom Box by Bloom Energy set to revolutionize Clean Energy, by Luigi Lugmayr, Feb 22 2010
The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?, CBS 60 Minutes, Feb 18 2010
Fuel-cell maker Bloom Energy finally sheds cloak of mystery this Sunday, by Camille Rickets, February 19, 2010