Bloom Energy announced it has released Bloom Boxes. It is a form of alternative energy in the shape of small boxes. A series of these boxes can power your refrigerator, or lights. Larger series of these Bloom Boxes have been placed to power businesses such as Google and EBay. These boxes are actually fuel cells that have been painted with a special formula. This paint formula is painted on a special surface of treated beach sand. I like the fact that he is using natural resources to obtain his alternative energy. Once stacked, they are series or grouped together in a larger box the size of a refrigerator.
According to the 60 Minutes interview last week, oxygen and fuel is fed into this large unit causing electricity to be produced. The fuel they refer to can be natural gas, bio-gas, land-fill gas, or solar. It sounds like a good idea but I am concerned about using fuel to create electricity. The cost of natural gas continues to rise. Is it a good idea to continue to use natural gas to produce electricity?
In the interview, K.R. Sridnar, the designer, said he hopes to have one in every home within 5 to 10 years and at a cost of $3000.00. Of course, he did mention that one of those refrigerator sized boxes cost EBay approximately $700,000.00 and they needed 5 of them to offset their electric usage. One can only hope that the price will come down from $700,000 to $3000. He went on to say that a stack of his boxes (one stack is equal to the size of one brick) would run an entire household. Each stack is capable of producing its own voltage.
The idea behind it seems doable but at what cost? It will still require gas (natural gas, etc) to produce. If you use bio-gas, it can be considered carbon neutral. Why not simply use solar? It has improved so it takes up less space per watt. What do you think?
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