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'Bloom Box' Fuel Cell Offers Power for Your Entire House
According to Engadget, K.R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy, unveiled his "Bloom Box" on Sunday's episode of '60 Minutes' (video from the show after the break). With two small blocks, each of which can fit in your hand, you could power an entire American house. The box is a fuel cell that combines oxygen and an energy source (like natural gas or solar rays) to produce clean energy through a chemical reaction. Within the box, there are three thin plates stacked on top of each other, covered with a special "ink" and separated by a cheap metal alloy. Oxygen enters one plate, while the fuel enters another. The two elements meet in the middle plate, creating a chemical reaction that produces electricity.
Companies like Google, Wal-Mart and Fed-Ex are already using large versions of the Bloom Box to power some of their operations, but these units cost between $700,000 and $800,000 each -- not exactly within the average consumer's means. However, Sridhar says that, in five to 10 years, he'll be able to drive down the cost to approximately $3,000 -- affordable enough to make sense for a working household. [From: Engadget]
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Comments
34
Subscribe to commentsNoreneFeb 23rd 2010 2:56PM
What's he going to do about the Oxygen? It is highly flammable you know......tucked under a house in a box? Ummmmm. Not in my neighborhood.
osceolawholesaleFeb 23rd 2010 3:19PM
That darn oxygen. Its so scary even though its all around us. You must be talking about concentrated oxygen, LOL. The box is safe.
llma71Feb 23rd 2010 6:35PM
I am not too sure about this but isn't oxygen an oxidizer? So it is not flammable but it enhances the chemical reaction. Natural gas, methane, LP etc. is the fuel that he was talking about.
DAVE OFeb 23rd 2010 7:28PM
Actually, oxygen is not flammable by itself.
ijus2crazyFeb 23rd 2010 3:20PM
Norene,where do you get your info?
Oxygen is not flammable,it just vigorusly accelerates combustion.
You would need a souce of flame and someting to burn to make it dangerous.
roadwarriorFeb 23rd 2010 3:43PM
He is full of crap, special ink and cheap metal.
I have a bridge in New York if you want to buy it.
hmbony38Feb 23rd 2010 4:16PM
Really? Did you miss the part that says (and they showed on the show) that large companies are already using them?
hockey4007Feb 23rd 2010 3:47PM
This would be great if it ever becomes a reality.
Only60wattFeb 23rd 2010 3:56PM
The needed oxygen is extracted from the air. (I'm sure the cost of purchasing oxygen would make the solution unattractive.) Also, I'm guessing you don't have natural gas piped to your house since you wouldn't want that highly flammable gas in pipes under your house, or heating oil (if you happen to live where folks do that.)
notlesmisFeb 23rd 2010 4:16PM
the atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen and 20% oxygen so I dont think you can get the required amount for this use.
pramirez4747Feb 23rd 2010 3:56PM
If you have a better idea bring it!!! if not give it a chance...
jimFeb 23rd 2010 4:17PM
this is very interesting. i have always wondered why with all of the technology that has been shown over the years we haven't come up with something to help the general public. there are alot of home owners out there but there is also an incredible amount of renters out there who do not want to invest in solar power for a home that they don't own & owners who could care less what the renter has to pay for energy, this can solve a bug gap in the use and waste of power in this country, if it can be produced at a reasonable price many more homes and business's can help bring down the useage of energy and save money for everyone concerned. i lived in sac,ca for years and every summer certain areas of town went out all of the time, sometimes for hrs or even days.
mesomachinesFeb 23rd 2010 4:44PM
This is all touchy-feely as is the BloomEnergy website. All BS and no substance. I'd like to see a discussion about the laws of thermodynamics - or as Obama's advisors said to the auto industry execs - "Laws of thermodynamics?? What are those laws? We can have those changed!!" In order to get energy out of a fuel cell, you have to put an equal amount in, whether it's from Oxygen, hydrogen, or some other source. Right now, that requires a coal-fired power plant. Nuclear power (with security for the facilities and waste stream) fossil fuels, solar, and wind are the only methods that can output more than you put in, and solar/wind can only supply a tiny fraction of our needs. We need to develop safe nuclear power quickly (a couple of oxymorons there) and we need to consume a lot less.
dudeFeb 24th 2010 4:57PM
Fuel cells do not operate on thermodynamics. It is a fundamentally different form of energy creation. Essentially, it extracts the electrons from a source (hydrogen, or anything that can be converted into hydrogen) and channels those electrons into DC current. The electrons then come back to the cell, interact with the ionized hydrogen molecules and oxygen molecules, and the output is H20. So instead of carbon output through thermodynamic processes, the output is water, and the process has very little to do with thermodynamics.
carrollzevansFeb 23rd 2010 4:46PM
He better get a bodyguard before the his competition takes him out like the others. He already has working prototypes, yet fools will still say it can't be done.
jimFeb 23rd 2010 5:01PM
Someone should be looking into constructing them in the USA. It would provide jobs.
randy scobeeFeb 23rd 2010 7:46PM
Jim This company is in California. I saw this on 60 minutes this week. They make the plates inside the box out of ocean sand. They showed Ebay, Walmart, and some other companies using this technology already and claiming big savings. Apparently they can put a bunch of these together to replace the power grids, that someone said was always going out in the summer.
dfasdfFeb 23rd 2010 5:08PM
Doesn't make sense.
If it sounds too good to be true....it is.
HallidayDWFeb 23rd 2010 5:11PM
The primary problematical "claim" is that "solar" could be used on the "fuel" side of these fuel cells. Other than the potential use of solar energy to produce fuels, such as hydrogen or hydrocarbons (think biofuel, for instance), this is non sequitur.
HallidayDWFeb 23rd 2010 5:26PM
I have used other hydrogen fuel cells before. The differences here are 1) the claimed ability to use other fuels (with or without a "reformer"?), and 2) the claim to be using inexpensive materials (though the green and black "inks" have not been, explicitly, claimed to be inexpensive).