Bloom Box
Bloom Energy has developed a new kind of power source using fuel cells. It’s called the Bloom Box and it’s causing a buzz across the internet. The company plans to go public this Wednesday. Interesting note; Colin Powell is on their board of directors.
CBS News and 60 Minutes just did a special on the Bloom Box, where company CEO K.R. Sridhar explained the power source. A small battery combines oxygen and fuel like natural gas to produce electricity without combustion; the Bloom Box stacks these fuel cells on top of one another to generate power.
The idea is to generate your own electricity without using the standard power grid owned by the giant power companies. Transmission would be wireless, and one Bloom Box could power a single U.S. home.
Sridhar has been working on this project for almost ten years, with some major changes along the way. He worked with NASA on a future Mars mission, where the Bloom Box was going to produce oxygen instead of electricity. When the NASA project was cancelled, Sridhar changed the concept around so the Bloom Box would become a clean power source.
Early customers Google and eBay say they’ve been happy with the Bloom Boxes they’ve been using, which are large commercial versions that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. While this exciting new technology is still too expensive for the average consumer, it will be interesting to see how Bloom Energy develops the Bloom Box into the mainstream market. Sources say the company plans to deliver a residential home version in five to ten years.
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Written by: Mike
Tags: 60 Minutes, Bloom Box, Bloom Energy, CBS News, K.R. Sridhar
eShop: 60 Minutes Bloom Box Bloom Energy CBS News K.R. Sridhar
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