The Bloom Box - Future of energy ?

[GoFlyKiteNow]

The Future Of Energy? Bloom Energy Boxes Already Power Google, eBay, Others

In a breakthrough, a rocket scientist has invented a mini electricity device, which could replace expensive power houses and transmission lines.

Christened the ‘Bloom Box,’ it would be unveiled by K.R. Sridhar in the Silicon Valley, a preview of which was given at the CBS’s popular show ‘60 Minutes’ last weekend.

“It is just like a laptop of the power sector,” the CBS reported.

Over the past several years, there’s been no shortage of talk about alternative energy, and its potential to change the world. The problem is that most of it is just that — talk. But tonight, a report that aired on 60 Minutes showed one alternative that is not only real, it’s already being tested by companies such as Google and eBay.

Video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6228923n

Mr. Sridhar formed a company, Bloom Energy, which raised some $400 million from venture capitalists of the Silicon Valley at a time when it is tough to get money due to economic recession.

Among its board of directors is the former U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell, who joined it last year.

Mr. Sridhar, who was a rocket scientist and served as adviser to NASA, says that in 10 years or so the ‘Bloom Box’ for residential areas would be available at $3,000 (less than Rs.1.5 lakh) to produce electricity in a small home round the clock.

Having earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Madras, earlier he was a Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering as well as Director of the Space Technologies Laboratory (STL) at the University of Arizona.
.

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

Bloom Energy


Bloom Energy are producing tiny fuel cell boxes they call “Bloom Boxes.” Two of these can apparently power a U.S. home (and only one for homes in countries that use less power). So how small are they? Look at the picture above, each device isn’t much bigger than a standard brick.

Of course, they need to be surrounded by a larger unit that takes in an energy source (such as natural gas). But still, these units look to be about the size of a refrigerator and can easily fit outside of a home, providing it with clean, cheap energy.

Currently, these boxes cost some $700,000-$800,000, but eventually, founder K.R. Sridhar envisions one in every home — and he thinks he can get the cost below $3,000 for a unit to make that happen. And he’s talking a 5 to 10 year timeframe for this.

Naturally, there are plenty who are skeptical of something like this ever working. There have been no shortage of fuel cell ideas over the years, but none get their own segment on 60 Minutes showing working units. And none get to highlight the fact that they’re already installed at companies like Google, eBay, FedEx and others. In fact, four of these Bloom Boxes have apparently been powering a Google datacenter for the past 18 months.

eBay says their five boxes have saved them over $100,000 in electricity costs over the past nine months.

Bloom Energy also has former Secretary of State Colin Powell on its board of directors, and he talked up the Bloom Boxes on 60 minutes tonight also. And the company has something in the neighborhood of $400 million in funding from the likes of Kleiner Perkins and others.

Kleiner’s John Doerr is also featured heavily in the 60 Minutes segment, talking about why he thinks this company can change the world perhaps even in a more profound way that another company he backed, Google, has. Bloom Energy was Kleiner’s first green tech investment.

Again, just watch the video and decide for yourself whether to be skeptical or amazed at this point. Right now, I’m definitely in the latter camp considering this thing is already being tested out. Apparently, Bloom Energy is due for a big formal public unveiling on Wednesday in San Jose (they have a countdown up on their site) —expect to hear a lot more then.

 

[Glaringly]

Is my common sense taking a holiday today?

Bloom Energy are producing tiny fuel cell boxes they call “Bloom Boxes.”

Currently, these boxes cost some $700,000-$800,000


eBay says their five boxes have saved them over $100,000 in electricity costs over the past nine months.

Power in, power out, these boxes does not generate power isn't it? And sounds like it's for convenience and portability.

Firstly looks like a expensive toy to have. Secondly, how does it save $100,000 in electricity in less then a year?

Are there some magical snake oil in it.

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

Is my common sense taking a holiday today?



Power in, power out, these boxes does not generate power isn't it? And sounds like it's for convenience and portability.

Firstly looks like a expensive toy to have. Secondly, how does it save $100,000 in electricity in less then a year?

Are there some magical snake oil in it.

These are Fuel cells. Converting hydrogen to electricity. When any source of hydrogen gas is pumped in ( Eg LPG, CNG, Methane etc) out comes electric power and only byproduct is water. There are no moving parts. The conversion efficiency rate is high.

Compared to buying power from a utility company vs electric power using hydrogen fuel cells, the savings costs are significant, especially for large consumers like eBaby.

However, this being a new technology, companies like Google and eBay may have encouraged the product development by agreeing to have this green tech product installed without looking at the capital costs from a mere accountant's simplistic point (profit and loss) of view .

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

Is my common sense taking a holiday today?



Power in, power out, these boxes does not generate power isn't it? And sounds like it's for convenience and portability.

Firstly looks like a expensive toy to have. Secondly, how does it save $100,000 in electricity in less then a year?

Are there some magical snake oil in it.

Here, I got some more details..which explains the process better than my earlier explanation. It is still a fuel cell, albeit oxygen driven one.
-------------

Bloom Box churns out power from sand
Thursday 25th February, 2010

A revolutionary new technology that holds the promise to supply the world with abundant clean, cheap energy.

'The core of our technology is simply sand,' said K.R. Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom Energy at Wednesday's unveiling of his invention in San Jose, California on the campus of eBay, one of Bloom's first customers.

The sand is the raw material used to make wafers that can make electricity. Sridhar has persuaded some big names that by making them out of sand he can make fuel cells that are efficient and inexpensive.

Whereas other fuel cells contain polymers and platinum that make them prohibitively expensive, Sridhar said Bloom's consist of specially coated ceramic squares made from a common sand-like substance.

Bloom's fuel cell works like this: Oxygen is pumped in on one side and natural gas on the other. The two combine inside the cell to create a chemical reaction that produces electricity. No burning, no combustion, no power lines from outside, as CBS puts it.

'The proof of the pudding is the reaction from the business people,' said former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who joined Bloom's board last year, said at Wednesday's event that also included an appearance by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

'Will it work for 10 or 20 years without something going wrong? We'll find out,' he added.

Bloom Energy says the best proof that its fuel cells work is in the ones already working like those at eBay's headquarters.

A half-dozen big companies have already bought Bloom Boxes at a cost of $700,000 to $800,000. But Sridhar's goal is a $3,000 box that anybody can use to power their home though he says home use is 10 years away.

'Don't start signing up for orders yet,' said Sridhar. 'This is a product of the future.'

'We believe that we can have the same kind of impact on energy that the mobile phone had on communications. Just as cell phones circumvented landlines to proliferate telephony, Bloom Energy will enable the adoption of distributed power as a smarter, localised energy source,' Sridhar said.

It will allow customers, he said, to 'lower their energy costs, reduce their carbon footprint, improve their energy security'.

'What people need to understand is we are not building a company, we are building an industry,' said Sridhar.
.

 

[zuoom]

sand?

maybe that's why Singapore so crazy about buying sand... haha.

 

[longbow]

Hope it is economically feasible. Right now they are doing their PR trying to get new investors.

As with many of these new technologies it all depends on cost to build, economic viability vs conventional power sources, reliability (efficient solar is great when there is sun - once sun dissappears it is back to batteries), any toxic materials that kind of this. Nuclear is a great technology until you see the problems with disposing nuclear waste.

What we need to see is 3 years down the road.

Remember a few years ago the rage was on the aircar? Apparently Tata was going to build the Aircar in India. So far no news. Recently BYD was supposed to come out with Lithium power electric car with fast charge - it has been delayed.

Bloom Energy


Bloom Energy are producing tiny fuel cell boxes they call “Bloom Boxes.” Two of these can apparently power a U.S. home (and only one for homes in countries that use less power). So how small are they? Look at the picture above, each device isn’t much bigger than a standard brick.

Of course, they need to be surrounded by a larger unit that takes in an energy source (such as natural gas). But still, these units look to be about the size of a refrigerator and can easily fit outside of a home, providing it with clean, cheap energy.

Currently, these boxes cost some $700,000-$800,000, but eventually, founder K.R. Sridhar envisions one in every home — and he thinks he can get the cost below $3,000 for a unit to make that happen. And he’s talking a 5 to 10 year timeframe for this.

Naturally, there are plenty who are skeptical of something like this ever working. There have been no shortage of fuel cell ideas over the years, but none get their own segment on 60 Minutes showing working units. And none get to highlight the fact that they’re already installed at companies like Google, eBay, FedEx and others. In fact, four of these Bloom Boxes have apparently been powering a Google datacenter for the past 18 months.

eBay says their five boxes have saved them over $100,000 in electricity costs over the past nine months.

Bloom Energy also has former Secretary of State Colin Powell on its board of directors, and he talked up the Bloom Boxes on 60 minutes tonight also. And the company has something in the neighborhood of $400 million in funding from the likes of Kleiner Perkins and others.

Kleiner’s John Doerr is also featured heavily in the 60 Minutes segment, talking about why he thinks this company can change the world perhaps even in a more profound way that another company he backed, Google, has. Bloom Energy was Kleiner’s first green tech investment.

Again, just watch the video and decide for yourself whether to be skeptical or amazed at this point. Right now, I’m definitely in the latter camp considering this thing is already being tested out. Apparently, Bloom Energy is due for a big formal public unveiling on Wednesday in San Jose (they have a countdown up on their site) —expect to hear a lot more then.

 

[tonychat]

why do i feel there's a con job going on here?

THere is no con job. They spend a few millions to get that thing and it will save them more in the long term.

 

[FlipSide]

why do i feel there's a con job going on here?

If this was a con job, it would have been debunked months ago. Very easy for industry to technically check it out.

 

[Cestbon]

These are Fuel cells. Converting hydrogen to electricity. When any source of hydrogen gas is pumped in ( Eg LPG, CNG, Methane etc) out comes electric power and only byproduct is water. There are no moving parts. The conversion efficiency rate is high.

Compared to buying power from a utility company vs electric power using hydrogen fuel cells, the savings costs are significant, especially for large consumers like eBaby.

However, this being a new technology, companies like Google and eBay may have encouraged the product development by agreeing to have this green tech product installed without looking at the capital costs from a mere accountant's simplistic point (profit and loss) of view .

Still need fuel like LPG/CNG how are normal consumer going to store it. Use cooking gas tank?
It will not save much maybe 20%of the electricity cost. Because power utility buying bulk energy at discount price. Where consumer have to pay higher price and transportation cost for gas. If use city gas even more expensive.
Only big company will use it.