Bloom Energy reveals the secret of its Bloom Box
The concept of fuel cells has been around for well over a century, but no one has yet seemed capable of delivering them in a workable solution that would actually make them useful. If what Bloom Energy is promising with its Bloom Box proves to be true, and it certainly looks like it is, then everything may be set to change.
Having been working in secret for nearly a decade, Bloom Energy appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes last night to reveal what it had been working on with the $400 million it had raised in venture capital over the years. Called the Bloom Box, these refrigerator-sized boxes have layered stacks of fuel cells inside of them made from sand that is blasted into ceramic plates that are coated in special green and black paints. One side of the plate oxygen is introduced while on the other side energy is introduced in the form of natural gas, bio gas, solar or other solutions. When the two ingredients combine, energy is produced and that’s it.
While many people have spoken about the potential of fuel cells over the years, no one has been able to introduce a solution to market that was actually viable. Bloom Energy waited to introduce the Bloom Box until after it had been in real world demonstrations with major corporations for some time. Nine months ago, eBay installed eight Bloom Boxes and they now supply 15 percent of the energy to the auction site’s main campus. Estimates say that the devices have saved the company over $100,000 in energy costs over that time.
Of course the problem is that the corporate sized boxes currently cost $700,000 to $800,000 each, and have mainly been installed in locations in California due to tax breaks that reduce the cost by nearly 50 percent, but at least there are real world examples of the technology working.
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